Teen Survivors
by Divineoverseer
Summary: Scott bites a kid named Liam and while he wants to keep his life normal, Stiles decides to train him in being a werewolf in Beacon Hills, but it might only distance them more than they've been getting since Allison's death. But when they and their friends get targeted by assassins and an old enemy, they'll need to come together to survive. Sequel to Teen Madness.
1. The Dark Moon

Chapter 1: The Dark Moon

Talia Hale looked down at her son Derek who was looking down at the cellar door by the giant tree stump with the ghost of tears in his eyes. He had been shedding tears for days and it seemed that he was now spent. The sun was setting in the distance showing that it would be dark soon but Derek hardly noticed. He then moved to kneel and set a flower on the ground next to the doors. Suddenly two figures came to stand next to her, her brother and her eldest daughter.

"How long has he been here?" her daughter Laura asked her.

Talia let out a small sigh. "At least an hour a day since it happened." She then shook her head. "He can't keep coming here though. It's not good for him, in more ways than one."

Laura looked over at her. "You mean because of what happened with Deucalion and the Argents?"

At that, Talia's face hardened slightly. "For starters," she mumbled. "They'll all be laying low as that Sheriff's deputy is still looking into the bodies found at the distillery from their meeting but not forever. Deucalion has left to recuperate after losing his sight but the Argents haven't yet moved to leave. And I know for a fact that Gerard and his son know of this place and will no doubt be skulking about. The last thing I want is for them to come around and find Derek here by himself. He's going to have to lay low and stay away from here. We all are."

Peter let out a small snort. "Good luck stopping him. Nothing less unstable than a teenager and their first love."

That made Talia close her eyes as she took a stressful breath in and then heavily expel it. She then slowly turned over to her brother. "Peter, take Derek back to the house."

"What?"

"You heard me and be sure that the two of stay there. I'll be round in about an hour or so and I'll be needing to speak with you both."

"Talia," Peter started to argue but he stopped when she gave him a hard look.

"Now," she said softly but sternly.

Peter knew there was no winning here. "Fine, whatever you say sis," he huffed.

He then went over and gave Derek a tap to the shoulder and mumbled something to him. Derek eventually picked himself up and started to walk off with Peter right beside him. Talia watched them head off silently with a stern look on her face.

Laura noticed the way that her mother was looking at them. "Mom…as much as I hate to admit it, Uncle Peter has a point. Paige was his first love. You can't stop Derek from coming back here when he wants to."

Talia knew Laura spoke from experience and nodded. "I know." She then brought out the claws in her right hand and looked down at them. "But he can't if he doesn't know how and where to go," she said softly.

"Mom?" hissed Laura. "Are you seriously going to do that to Derek?"

Talia turned to look at her daughter stone faced. "I am. And not just him. But Peter as well. It wouldn't exactly be the first time I had to resort to this with him. I know that I can't trust your uncle with this kind of sensitive information."

Laura let her eyes go off to catch the shrinking forms of her brother and uncle through the trees. "And me?"

"Don't worry sweetie, you I trust. And I'm going to have to ask that you pay close attention to your brother and sister for the next couple of weeks while I try to sort through any trouble the new hunters might cause here. Okay?"

She nodded. "Okay mom."

Talia then moved to take off her robe leaving her naked as she handed it to her daughter who took it with a nod. Laura then headed off for the direction that her brother and uncle went while Talia stayed there to look at the Nemeton for another moment. She gave it a hard look before she started to walk off into the brush. She walked for a few seconds before her body shifted and transformed into a dark haired wolf. She ran to where there was a big rock with semi flat surface. She went over to it and stood up on her hind legs as she propped her two front paws on it to stand on her hind legs. She pointed her snout up into the dimming sky and let a small howl loose before she then climbed up on the rock and pushed herself off and jumped off into the woods. As she had jumped, the claws in her hind legs had unknowingly dug into the rock and left deep scratch marks in it. When she touched back onto the ground, she broke into a hard run through the trees.

On the other side of the clearing, hidden by the cover of the trees was a certain young blonde woman. She had been watching the family through binoculars and finally set them down when she saw the Alpha move into the trees and transform. When she heard the wolf's howl she started moving off, towards the tree stump with a fully loaded rifle in her arms. A werewolf like that, especially an Alpha, wouldn't be easy to take down. But, as she looked down by the base of the tree, she moved to pick up the flower that the teenage boy had left.

"Ahh, a real romantic at heart," she smirked to herself as she crushed the flower in her hand.

She believed she had just found the way to not only take down the Alpha, but the entire pack.

* * *

Almost eight years had passed from that day and Beacon Hills had gone through many changes, among those were that there was a new Alpha in town. One by the name of Scott McCall and he was leading his friends Stiles Stilinski and Lydia Martin into the Animal Clinic.

"How long has it been?" Stiles asked him as they went inside.

"Weeks," he huffed out as he went to a cabinet. "And he hasn't answered any of my texts."

"Derek ever return your texts?"

Scott took out a container. "Once. Definitely once but, this time it felt different so I went to the loft. The alarm was on and everything looked okay," he then went and opened the container and pushed it to him. "Then I found these."

Stiles looked inside and then pulled a very familiar piece of metal. "Bullet casings," he mumbled. Stiles' nose then crinkled. "From wolfsbane laced bullets. Hunters," he said with a bit of a growl.

Lydia's eyes narrowed on it. "There's something on it."

Stiles turned the casing to find that there seemed to be a skull engraved on it. "What is that?"

"I sent a picture to Deaton. He said that it's a mark of a family of hunters based in Mexico. The Calaveras."

"What would they want with Derek?" asked Lydia.

"Whatever it is, you know it can't be good," Stiles mumbled as he went and put the bullet case back in the container. "You don't think they killed him, do you?"

Scott blinked and shrugged. "I don't know." He really didn't know. The only hunter family that they ever came across was the Argents. They didn't know anything about this new family or how they worked. But he did know of a way to find out if Derek was still alive or not. His eyes went over to Lydia. "That's why you're here."

Stiles looked at her too. Lydia definitely could tell them. As a banshee, she would be able to sense if Derek was dead or not. And, she now had a greater understanding and control of her power. Scott pushed the container of bullet shells to her. Lydia took a small breath as she reached in and took a handful of them. She then let them rain down on the table. The sounds of gunfire echoed in her mind as each casing hit the table followed by a hard scream that she recognized as Derek Hale's. Lydia then started to stare off with a far off look in her face.

Stiles shook his head. "What? Is he dead?"

Lydia shook her head as she still stared off blankly. "No," she mumbled. "But, I'm not sure he's alive either."

"What does that mean?" Scott asked her.

"I don't know. Something…just doesn't feel right."

Stiles looked down at the bullet casings. "It could mean that they have him and are going to kill him. And, if the Calaveras have him then how do we find them?"

Scott went over and reached for a bullet. "Mexico."

Stiles nodded before he looked down at the bullet casings. "We're going to need some help."

Scott turned to look up at him. "Yeah," he said glumly.

Later, Stiles, after he, Scott and Lydia made a plan and then went home, was leaning against the wall of his room. He stared off hard at a spot on the floor though his mind was nowhere near his room. They were going to Malia and Kira for help but even with the five of them, Stiles knew that this was a big risk. He remembered when they went toe to toe against Gerard and his goons and how vicious they were, not to mention Chris and Kate. If this other hunter family was anything like the Argents then there was a chance that something could seriously happen to them, or to the girls. Stiles wouldn't let that happen.

He went to his phone and then reached into his wallet and took out a card. It was a business card and the name on it was Marin Morrell. He then entered the number inscribed and made the call. Stiles heard two dial tones before he heard the click of someone answering the phone.

"Hey, it's me. And I, well all of us, we need some help." Stiles then moved to look down at his hand where he was holding one of the bullet casings in between his fingers.

* * *

Raphael McCall was in his hotel room, watching the footage for perhaps the hundredth time. It was of a camera outside the entrance to Beacon Hills Memorial Hospital. His eyes followed after Stiles Stilinski wearing a black leather jacket over a black hooded sweater as he walked for the entrance to the hospital. It was from the night that the attack happened at the hospital from those men wielding swords. Unfortunately, this was the only camera that had any footage that night. Every other camera actually inside the hospital had malfunctioned. The building supervisors said that it looked like there had been some kind of electrical burnout. Raphael had scrubbed this footage and he couldn't find a moment when he walked back out. Naturally, he questioned where Stiles had been that night and he claimed that he had been with Scott to help him deal after having lost Allison. Scott, Melissa and Stiles' father Noah all collaborated the story but he knew that Stiles had been there that night. He'd seen him.

He looked over at some notes that he made surrounding the boy. The recent events around him such as copies of the tests that he took at the hospital, including a small print of his MRI. Not to mention, a testimony from an orderly at Eichen House named Brunski of Stiles' time there. The kid looked like he was on the verge of a mental breakdown, coupled with a sickly constitution, and he suddenly was right as rain.

Something strange was going on, not just with Stiles but with Scott too. They were involved in something that was going on in this town and he had a feeling that Stiles' father and his ex wife were involved somehow as well, not to mention Alan Deaton, the Argent Family and Derek Hale. He wasn't sure exactly what it was yet but he would find out.

Raphael's phone started to ring and he moved to pick it up. He saw that it was a call from the bureau. "Agent McCall," he answered.

" _Yes, I thought you would like to know that we got a ping on that vehicle you gave us. It crossed the Mexican border less than an hour ago_."

He narrowed his eyes. "Do you have an image?'

" _Yes. The security footage is being sent to you now_."

"Thank you."

Raphael opened his laptop and quickly pulled up the image of a familiar blue jeep. It played out where he saw the jeep pull up to the window and he saw Stiles stick his head out and show his driver's license. A moment later, the jeep began to drive on through. Raphael moved to freeze it. He could see that there were people in the jeep but he couldn't tell who. Yet he could make out that there seemed to be at least three others with him and he had a strong hunch who one of them might be.

What would Scott and Stiles be going to Mexico for?

* * *

Stiles and Lydia stopped in their movements to let a small red taxi cab by.

"Wow, taxis are red down here?" Stiles said giving it a look.

"I just hope that's all the red we'll see while we're here," Lydia sighed out tensely.

They were moving through a small Mexican town that seemed quite simple and friendly looking, from the outside. They could see some people calmly going about their business and a few even were smiling at one another as they passed.

"Pretty homey little town isn't it?" he said as he took it all in.

But Lydia didn't share in his optimism. "It's not the town, it's the plan."

"What's wrong with the plan?"

"Stiles, this could be the stupidest plan we've ever come up with. You're aware of that, right?"

He sighed. "I admit it's not our best. But don't worry."

"Why shouldn't I worry?"

Stiles went and took out his phone to send a text. "There's a Plan B." Stiles started to type in the words: **Going in now.**

"Great," she nodded. "What's Plan B?" He reached into a pocket and brought out a small bottle of pepper spray. "Seriously?"

"Sorry, my bat couldn't fit in my pocket," he said pocketing his phone. "And we can't enter the hornets nest without some bug spray." He then handed it to her.

"Fantastic." Lydia said as she pocketed it. "Except our problem isn't hornets but armed hunters."

"I'm aware of that. Very aware," he said before they began walking off. "Which is why I made a Plan C. Let's just hope we won't need to use it."

Lydia sighed. "Oh, we are going to die."

"You saying that as a banshee or are you being pessimistic?"

"Uh, I'm saying it as a person that doesn't want to die."

Stiles sighed. "Well then, do you mind restricting any talk of death to actual banshee predictions."

She nodded. "This plan is stupid and we're going to die."

"Oh thank you," he said to her sarcastically. "Maybe it would've been better if you stayed with the others and let me handle this."

But the unease in Lydia's face vanished as her expression hardened. "No, you're not going in alone."

The two of them moved off for a street that didn't seem as lively or friendly as the rest of the town. They came upon the address that they were looking for and found that the entrance was being watched by two rough looking men. Stiles could tell from the smell of gunpowder leaking out of them that they were armed. He subtly passed his hand to Lydia's to let her know that they had to be careful now.

Lydia got the hint and quickly tried to relax a bit for them as she quickly asked them if this was the place for the party. One of the men quickly shook his head at them and Stiles went to reach for the card. It was one that had the Calavera's symbol on it that they got from one of Deaton's contacts in the area. At the sight of it, the guard then looked off to the side and Stiles saw that there was a surveillance camera. He then lifted the card so that the camera got a good shot of it and the door then buzzed open. They walked on in and found themselves in a dimly lit and empty hallway that was somewhat creepy. Stiles and Lydia walked in and the door was shut right behind them. They went and bit the bullet and began walking for the other end. They went and opened it and were hit with a rush of lights and sound. There was a loud and lively party in full swing complete with drinks and a DJ. Stiles' eyes scanned the room and he found a few security men watching the area. His eyes went to an upper landing where he saw a man with a walkie talking looking down right at them. He grabbed Lydia and went to make their way for the bar and blend with the crowd. As soon as they sat down, the bartender quickly went and slammed down two shots right in front of them. Stiles went for his wallet but a hand slammed down on his and Lydia's shoulder.

It was the man that Stiles noticed earlier. Close by, he seemed to be bigger than Stiles thought he was. "Don't," their new friend just said to them. "On the house." But Stiles and Lydia moved to fix themselves up but didn't move. The man gave them a look. "American teenagers don't cross the border to refuse a drink."

Stiles took a small whiff from his nose as he looked to the drink in front of him. "Guess not." He went and grabbed the glass and quickly drank down the shot for the man's benefit. As it went through his throat, Stiles barely felt anything. Not too long ago, Stiles had been given the chance to actually know what it felt like to experience drinking. The buzz that alcohol gave to people as it went down your throat and then to your head. But now it looked like Stiles was back to not being able to be intoxicated or drunk, which in this case, might actually be a good thing. But he still quickly put on a show for the hunter's benefit. From the smell, this stuff was supposedly strong and the man seemed satisfied with the reaction he gave.

The man then looked at Lydia, as if expecting for her to drink as well. "Thanks, but we're not really here for a drink." She then went and tossed a skull engraved bullet casing in the glass.

The man then went and took the two of them and led them off into an office in the back. They walked in where they found an old woman sitting in a fancy chair behind a desk with a man and young woman close by. She seemed to be wiping down a hunting knife with a piece of withered cloth.

When they entered, she looked up at them and gave them a small smile. "Please, sit," she said still continuing with her work of cleaning her knife.

Stiles and Lydia moved to sit while the one that escorted them in went to stand beside her while her bodyguard moved to block the door. The young woman went over to sit on a cushy chair that was off to the side. Stiles sat down and his eyes silently moved from the bodyguard, young woman, to the bigger man to the movement of the old woman's hands. As soon as he took each of them in, he then went to look at the old woman in front of him. Stiles guessed that she was this Araya Calavera that they heard about. The leader of the Calavera Family. He knew that the Argents had a matriarchy when it came to their family and he guessed that this family might be the same judging from how the other hunters in the room were looking towards her. Though she was old, she didn't seem to be quite as old as Gerard was. But she was still giving off the same cold and bloodthirsty feeling that Stiles had remembered feeling around him.

He then looked up as they could faintly hear the music from the party but the woman just kept going with what she was doing with her head swaying slightly to the beat. "Didn't think someone your age would like this kind of music."

Araya let a chuckle loose. "Yes." She gave the big man a small look. "Severo hates this music. Me, I've always loved the music of youth. This kind especially. It has a savage energy," she said looking up at them and taking a hard swipe of the knife against the cloth. She didn't seem the slightest bit worried that she would cut herself.

Lydia was sitting straight in her chair and trying not to look as nervous as she felt. "We're here for Derek Hale."

She smiled at her. "Is that so?"

"We know you have him." That was answered by another hard swipe from her knife against the cloth. Lydia tried not to break in her gaze. "We've heard that you could be bought."

Stiles then moved into his jacket and and took some rolls of money and then slammed them on the table. Five small piles. "That's fifty thousand for Derek."

At the sight of the money, she finally put the knife down. "Now, where does a teenage boy get money like this?" From her tone, it didn't look like she was really curious or even asking a question. "Japanese Mafia?" At her words, the young woman in the chair cocked a shotgun and the man behind them brought out a handgun and turned the safety off.

Stiles followed each of their movements before he looked back at Araya who was smirking at him. "You seem well informed," he muttered at her, not breaking his composure.

Araya went and leaned on the table, moving a little closer to them, the smug smile on her face not faltering a bit. "Stiles Stilinski, that's what they call you, eh mijo? I've heard quite a bit about you. One of those being that you are smart. Not smart to come alone."

Stiles rose his eyebrows at her. "And what makes you think we came alone?"

At his statement, Araya smug expression faded a bit. "You brought a wolf into my home?" she asked a bit angrily.

Now it was Stiles' turn to smirk. "We brought an Alpha."

* * *

Scott, Kira and Malia were now working on the second phase of the plan. While Stiles and Lydia were keeping Araya busy, they would scope the building and try to find Derek. They had already managed to get passed the front door and were already in the party. Scott moved off by himself while the girls stayed inside the party room.

Kira quickly noticed that a few of the security guards were starting to move about and going through the crowd of partiers. She quickly ran to Malia who was moving about on the dance floor. "Something's happening," she told her.

"I know," Malia said, still dancing.

Kira was starting to panic. "What do we do?"

Malia however was still calmly dancing to the music. "Blend in." Kira looked about as if trying to find out how to do that and Malia smiled at her. "Dance with me dumbass."

Kira's eyes widened. "Oh."

Kira then started to move a bit and dance but it was awkward. It seemed to do nothing more than make Kira stand out even more. The guard she was looking at seemed to think so as he stared at her and spoke heatedly into his walkie. Even Malia thought Kira was doing terribly so she moved over to her and grabbed her hip to try and help her relax and move. Kira was slowly starting to smile and began to start getting into it. With the two of them dancing together so fluidly, they started to truly blend into the crowd so much that the guards seemed to be overlooking them now. They even began to get joined by other partiers which further helped to hide them from security's eyes.

* * *

Araya paced off a bit before she went to look out the window of her office. "My friends, I don't think you're aware of your poor timing. Do you know what the Dark Moon is?"

"Part of the lunar phase where the moon is least visible in the sky," Lydia answered.

"But do you know it's meaning?" Araya pressed on.

Lydia bit her cheek a bit. "Some people say its…a time of reflection. Or grief."

Stiles knew about this. After Peter's resurrection, he quickly looked into the different types of moons that there were. He'd seen what the Worm Moon did for Peter and he knew personally the effects of the Lunar Eclipse. If werewolves were affected by the moon then he wanted to know all the different ways. He managed to learn quite a lot about them especially from the books he borrowed from Deaton a few months ago. He had learned that the Dark Moon was actually supposed to be when werewolves were supposed to be mystically vulnerable. Whatever that meant. He was snapped out of his musing when Araya fully turned to face them.

"Grief and loss mijo. I wonder why, when you and your friends have suffered so much loss, you would risk it again for someone like Derek Hale."

Stiles narrowed his eyes at her. Say what you will about Derek, there was no denying the fact that he was still important to them. He had gone out of his way to help and even save them in the past, just like they had done for him. He was one of them. "Because we don't want to lose more," he told her.

Stiles was cut off when a man's voice rang out from a walkie. He reported that the front entrance was clear. But Severo began to ask for one of their men as he wasn't answering his walkie.

But then they started to hear Scott's voice come from the walkie. " _Stiles, take ten off the table._ "

Araya narrowed her eyes as Stiles went and grabbed ten thousand dollars off the table and pocketed it. Araya then turned to look over at Severo and he moved to leave the office though the other two armed people stayed behind. Stiles let himself use that chance to refresh the position of the other two as he followed Severo leaving.

Lydia seemed to be feeling a bit more confident as she shrugged. "Maybe you should just take the deal."

Araya just smiled as she leaned in towards Lydia. "Well I am keen to follow the warning of a banshee. But I'm going to have to decline."

* * *

Now the security was starting to get more aggressive. They actually brought their guns out and kept them at their sides as they violently shoved through the dancers, checking them out one by one. They were heading straight for Malia and Kira, who were both still dancing sensationally. One of the men caught sight of them and was going for them just as a woman with a shotgun moved to stand behind them.

Malia noticed and leaned in closer to Kira. "Ready?"

Kira nodded as she brought out some nunchucks. She then started to swing them at the woman behind them while Malia turned to the man stomping for them. Kira was swinging the nunchucks around so quickly that the guard couldn't find an opening to get to her. Malia quickly disarmed her target before she went and slammed him down to the floor. She then punched him hard in the face just as Kira whacked her target in the face with the nunchucks. Another guy was moving for them but Scott quickly moved in and pushed him into a beam. He then grabbed him harshly and threw him across the room to have his back slam against the wall. The three of them then moved to leave the party room and begin searching the rest of the place together.

Scott moved to his pocket and took the radio. "Stiles, take another ten off."

* * *

Stiles reached down and pocketed another ten thousand. He then looked over at Araya. "Look, just give us Derek. You don't want him anyway. Haven't you noticed what a downer he is? No sense of humor. Poor conversationalist. Just take the money. It would cost you far less than it would taking all your people to the hospital. Keeping him can't be worth all this trouble so, why not just let us have him and we can all call it a day?" But Araya just stared blankly at him and Stiles' insides lit up as something seemed to crawl up his spine. A heart wrenching fact. "Unless you don't," he realized. Araya's mouth cracked a small smirk as her eyes fell on the bodyguard at the door. Stiles quickly looked over at Lydia. "Okay, Plan B."

At that he threw himself up and went for the guy behind them.

"Stiles!" Lydia cried as everyone started to react.

Immediately the guy moved to point the gun at him but Stiles was so fast though that he barely managed to lift it an inch. Stiles had both speed and had memorized exactly where he was and was ready. He then sent a hard punch in his face that sent him tumbling back before Stiles grabbed him by his shirt's collar. The girl with the shotgun cocked it and Stiles had been ready to pull the first hunter around to block him from her sight but he didn't need to. The sound of the shotgun had made Lydia shoot up to her feet and pull out the can of pepper spray he'd given her. She sprayed it in the face of the woman just as she aimed her gun. The woman shrieked and staggered a bit as she moved one hand to try and cover her eyes as Lydia was still spraying her. The first hunter was still reeling from the punch and he grit his slightly bloodied teeth before he moved to point the gun at Stiles again but the teen wolf twisted his wrist towards the woman's direction and made him pull the trigger and let out a shot. It hit the other woman in the leg and made cry out and tumble to the ground in pain. Lydia then quickly kicked the shotgun out of the woman's grip and then frantically moved to the opposite side of the room. With her down, Stiles then put all the power he could into squeezing and snapping the guy's wrist which made him scream and drop his gun. With the hunter stunned, Stiles quickly yanked the guy's mangled arm behind his back where he went to stand as well. The hunter tried to break free but Stiles stopped his moving by bringing out the claws in his free hand and having them graze his neck holding him in place as his hostage and shield.

Araya had been watching all of their activity quietly and calmly but her expression went sour at the sight of the claws on Stiles' exposed hand as he held her man hostage. "Curious. Last I heard, the wolf with the smart mouth was no more."

"Guess you're not so well informed after all." Stiles glared at Araya and let his blue eyes shine through. "So let me inform you, loud and clear. We're leaving. All of us. Tell your men to stand down and let us go."

Araya wasn't reacting to his threat in the slightest. "Sorry mestizo, I'm afraid you and your friends aren't going anywhere."

Stiles violently shook his hostage. "You sure about that?" he asked savagely.

Araya moved to the table to pick up the knife she was cleaning earlier and threw it for them. It found its mark, straight into the hunter's heart, killing him. Stiles dropped the guy in shock as he stared open mouthed at how she had just killed her own man. He then looked up at Araya who then brought out a gun and pointed it right at Lydia. Stiles quickly put his claws away and held his hands up as he looked fearfully at Lydia who was staring back at him pale faced.

"Deadly," Araya told him with her eyes and face going stone cold. Just then, the other hunter who was shot pulled out a taser gun from her pocket and move to jam it at Stiles' leg. Lydia let out a small cry as Stiles started to seize up and then fall to the floor. Araya still had her gun on Lydia as she moved her free hand for her walkie. "Severo, show the others how the Calaveras negotiate."

Severo got the signal and he moved to the DJ where he gave him the okay to begin the smoking pyrotechnics. Immediately, smoke started to pour into the party room to mix with the laser lights and cause a dazzling visual effect for the partiers.

* * *

In the hallways, Scott, Malia and Kira were still moving about as they checked every room they came across for any sign of Derek.

Malia then suddenly held out her arm. "Did you guys just hear that?"

"Hear what?" Kira asked.

"It, sounded like a gun," she told them.

Scott's ears then heard a scream echo in them. "Lydia." Something must've happened with her and Stiles. "Let's go," he said as he tried to quicken the pace. But they stopped when they noticed smoke starting to leak into the halls from the path ahead. Suddenly, smoke started to pour in from above them until the whole hall was full of it. And it had a disturbingly familiar smell. "Wolfsbane. It's wolfsbane!" Already, he was starting to feel weak in the knees and Malia was starting to collapse. Kira wasn't affected by the wolfsbane though. "Kira, get out of here!" he cried out to her. Kira moved to leave but Scott's eyes widened as someone moved for her with a pipe. "Look out!" he tried to warn her.

Kira moved to fight the guy off but he managed to get a hit to the back of her head. Scott was now on his knees as he tried to crawl for her but could barely move. He saw that his vision was getting blurry but he could make out a new figure moving close to him. It was Araya.

"Someone who has been an Alpha for only a few months should be more careful when facing a hunter of 40 years," she said tauntingly.

"All we want…is Derek!" Scott coughed out.

She just shook her head at him. "Aye lobito, you're a long way from home."

Scott then suddenly realized it. "You don't know where he is either."

"Hmm, not so bright either," she said before she moved to jam a taser gun at his chest.

Scott seized up as he felt the electricity begin to pour into his body. She kept shocking him until he eventually blacked out. When he came to, the first thing he saw was Kira's face looking down at him in concern.

"Guys, he's awake!" she cried.

Stiles and Malia moved over to him. Thankfully, they both seemed okay.

But Scott shook his head. "They don't have him. They don't have Derek."

"Yeah, we know," Kira told him. "And they have Lydia."

He narrowed his eyes. "What would they want with her?"

"We don't know," Kira told him.

"What I do know is that whenever someone wanted Lydia, it wasn't for a good reason," Stiles mumbled out. That had been the case with Jennifer and the Nogitsune. They wanted the power of a banshee and he could only guess that Araya must have some use for it too.

Scott was then helped to his feet as he took a good look at where they were. It seemed to be an old storage washroom.

"We've got to get out of here," he said. Scott then went for the only door and moved to try and pull it open.

"Scott," Stiles said to him as he kept pulling on it. "Malia and I already tried that while you were out. This room is completely escape proof."

Kira nodded. "Yeah, and it doesn't look like we're the first ones that tried to get out either."

Scott saw what she meant when he noticed marks on the wall next to him that looked like scratches from claws.

"I say that when that door opens again, we take out whoever's standing in the way and run for it," Malia told them.

"What about Lydia?" Kira asked.

Malia shrugged. "What about her?"

Scott moved over to them. "We're not leaving without her."

Malia looked confused. "Why not?"

Stiles went over to her and took her by gently by the arm. "It's because we don't leave without people, remember? We talked about this. Rules of the Wild Kingdom don't apply to friends."

Malia was still new to what it meant to be human again after being a coyote for over eight years. The last few weeks Stiles had been trying to help ease her back into society but it was slow work.

"Is that what you would do as a coyote?" Kira asked her. "Leave them for dead?"

"If she was weak and injured, yeah," Malia said nodding. "If hunting had been bad that season, I would eat her, then I'd leave."

Both Scott and Kira just stared at Malia as she said that while Stiles stroked the bottom of his chin.

"Believe it or not, that's progress," he told them.

Scott shook himself out of it. "Alright, guys we're not dead yet. That means Araya wants something."

Kira shook her head. "But if the Calaveras don't have Derek then that means that they didn't take him from the loft, right?"

Stiles thought about it. The bullet found at the loft were definitely the Calaveras which meant that they had been after him. "Maybe he fought them off," he put out there. "Left on his own?"

"Or maybe someone else got to him," Scott put in.

"But who, and why would they, or the Calaveras, want with him anyway?" Stiles asked.

Both very good questions.

* * *

Lydia was sitting outside with Araya being watched by some of her men. She tried not to move or do anything that would cause a reaction from the armed people around her. Especially from the woman who had just thrown a knife into one of her own men's hearts. On the table were a few helpings of fruit and Araya was pouring some hot tea into two mugs.

"I have to admit, I don't have much experience with banshees," she told them as she finished pouring.

"That makes two of us. I don't have much experience being one," Lydia mumbled.

"I have a feeling you underestimate your own abilities Lydia," Araya told her before she moved to take a sip of her tea.

Lydia just narrowed her eyes at her. "Trust me, you'd have better luck with tarot cards."

"Let's find out," she said with a soft smile. She then looked over at the two men guarding them. "Tell me, which of these men is about to die?"

Lydia's eyes widened as she looked over at them. "What?"

Araya then went to pick up an orange and began to peal it. "Tell me, how does it work? Do you need to touch them? Or maybe I need to give you something they own? Or is it, just a feeling?"

"I told you, I don't know," she said softly.

But Araya just smiled wider at her. "Just how close to death do they have to be?"

Araya had put the knife down and then began to tap it with her finger. The tapping seemed to echo in Lydia's mind. She then slowly looked back over at the men. When Lydia moved her sights to one of them in particular, Araya quickly picked up the knife and flung it. Just like at her office, her throw had the knife land in her own man's heart.

Lydia let out a startled scream as she got up and backed away a bit. Her eyes never leaving the man as he then fell to the ground, dead. "Why did you do that for?" she cried out.

Araya was calmly finishing with pealing her orange. "He stole from me."

She was crazy. Lydia knew that for a fact. This woman had personally killed two of her own men without batting an eye. "What do you want?"

"I want to know about Scott McCall. I want to know what kind of Alpha he really is."

* * *

All of a sudden, the four of them were looking over at the door as it slid open. Four hunters appeared, three of them armed with automatic weapons. They aimed them at the kids and they all took a step back. The remaining one stomped over for Scott and hit him with a shock stick, knocking him out again. He then moved to carry him out. After Scott was out, one of them moved and grabbed Kira. Stiles grit his teeth and moved to try and help her but the hunter pointed the gun straight at his face, stopping him in his tracks. Stiles and Malia glared at them as they yanked Kira out of the room and then slammed the door shut and locked it again.

Scott groggily came to and found himself chained to a chair. He quickly spotted Severo who was holding onto Kira tightly in a corner of the room. The door then flew open and Araya stepped in with one of her hunters having a firm grip on Lydia's arm.

Lydia was brought in where she saw the contraption that Scott was hooked up to. "Oh god," she muttered.

She was then pushed inside and getting forced into another chair and tied into it.

"No," Scott said trying to pull on the restraints but they didn't budge. "You got me. Just let the others go."

But Araya and her men didn't falter. Severo just yanked on Kira and brought her in front of a control panel. He then took her hand and slammed it on one of the dials.

"Your hand goes here," he said as he put his weight on her wrist to keep her hand over it. He then looked over at Scott. "So, let me explain what's about to happen. This one, the fox, has an immunity to electricity. So, she is going to turn the dial on the Alpha. If she doesn't…I turn the dial on the banshee." That made Scott and Lydia share a panicked look.

Kira began to struggle harder against Severo. "No, I'm not doing this."

But Severo kept his tight grip on Kira and put her hand back on the dial. "Oh, you sure? One of your friends has the power to heal. The other, not so much."

Scott narrowed his eyes at him. "What are you doing? What, is this a game to you?" he asked directing his sight over at Araya.

She heartlessly smiled as she walked over. "This is a test, lobito. Let's see if you pass. I'm going to ask you some questions. You answer them, nobody gets hurt. You don't answer, we turn up the dial," she said as her face became hard.

Scott quickly looked up at Kira who he saw was only becoming more frightened. "Do what they say," he told her. "Give them whatever they want. I can take it." Kira's face grew paler but she nodded to him.

Araya wasn't stirred by the affection at all as she decided to move this along. "So, we don't know where Derek is. We want to find him as well. You know who took him."

"What?" Scott gasped. "How would I know that?" He didn't understand how Araya would believe that. If they knew who had taken Derek then why would they all bother coming all the way down to Mexico to find them and risk being where they were right now?

But Araya just sneered at him. "That doesn't sound like an answer to me."

"We don't know. Why do you think we came here?" Lydia said voicing the thought that Scott had in his head only a second ago.

Araya narrowed her eyes. "Kira," she said to her but was still staring at Scott. "Turn the dial."

Kira looked down at the dial under her hand and shook her head. "No."

"Should we turn the dial on Lydia instead?!" Araya said triggering Severo to move to it. "If she has to go, we have another wolf and a coyote that could fill her spot and I can keep asking."

"No! No! No!" Scott quickly shouted out at him before looking at Kira. "Do it Kira," he begged. Kira shook her head but Scott nodded furiously at her. "Do it,' he told her.

Kira choked back some tears as she looked down at the dial and moved her fingers around it.

Araya looked back at Scott. "Let's start at one," she told Kira.

Scott and Kira shared one more scared look before Kira moved and turned the dial to one. An electric current then flooded into Scott and he felt his insides begin to burn.


	2. The Dark Moon part 2

Chapter 2: The Dark Moon part 2

At that moment, Stiles shot up to his feet from where he had been sitting on the floor close to Malia.

"Damn it," he muttered as he quickly ran his hand over his mouth.

Malia looked up to see the fear stricken look on his face. "What is it? What's wrong?" she panted out.

Stiles' own breathing was starting to pick up. "Can't you hear it? Lydia, Kira, they're crying. And Scott." He went to grab some hair at sides of his head. "Ugh, he's in pain. I…I can feel it. They're hurting him." Stiles then went and angrily slammed his palm on the door. There was only a mild dent made to it and he grit his teeth. "He's screaming out in pain." He then sent a hard and super strength filled punch into the tiled wall by the door and made broken pieces rain down to the floor but it barely looked cracked. The walls were as super reinforced as the door. Stiles looked down at his knuckles to see that there were some cuts but he could already feel them starting to heal. "Ehh, I hate hunters," he said in a low growl as he glared at the door. The blood was rushing to his head and he felt his insides boiling. His fangs were starting to set in and felt through his clenched and hardened jaw.

"Yeah, I don't think I like them much either." Malia shrink into herself from where she sat. "How bad is it? Scott and the others?"

Stiles turned back to her. "Can't you hear them?"

She shook her head. "Uh, I don't know. I can't concentrate. There's just, too many sounds. So many voices," she said in a panicked voice.

Stiles could hear her heartbeat starting to pick up. He ran over and quickly moved to crotch down over in front of her. "Whoa, hey. Calm down, it's okay. It's okay, you just need to slow your heart rate," he said to her in a soothing tone. "Breathe with me, relax. You've practiced this before with me and Scott, remember that?"

"I know. I'm trying," Malia quickly nodded as she closed her eyes and tried to take deep breaths to calm herself.

But Stiles could still feel her heart rate was still beating fast and he moved to take her clawed hands into his heated ones and began to rub on them. "Have you found yourself an anchor yet?"

"Uh, I don't know," she gasped. "I can't find anything. Nothing I'm trying to think of is working."

Stiles moved in closer. "Okay, it's okay," he said quickly. "Uh, just try focusing on something. Focus on me." He then narrowed his eyes. "Malia, look at me," he barked out. Malia let her eyes open and gaze at his face. "Focus on my eyes. Concentrate on the sound of my voice. Just listen and look at me," he soothed out.

But Malia's breathing was settling. "Uh, I'm trying. What am I supposed to do now?" she asked desperately.

"Anything. Just do whatever you feel you have to do."

She nodded slightly…before she moved in and kissed him. It was a soft kiss but still a heated one that Stiles found himself quickly returning. As their lips rubbed against one another they inhaled each other's scents. The smell of the coyote appeased the wolf while the smell of the wolf settled the coyote. They kissed for a few seconds and they then slowly pulled apart from each other.

Malia seemed to have calmed right down as her blue eyes lightly flared up. A far off look came over her. "I hear something," she muttered.

"What?" he gasped softly.

Malia narrowed her eyes a bit. She focused on the sounds that seemed to be close and heading right for them. "Fighting."

Stiles let his hearing branch out and his ears picked up the sound of hard movement, which then got followed up with some men shouting in Spanish and then some gun fire that was sounding right outside the door. "Yeah," Stiles said as he got to his feet. "About time."

There was some more of those sounds before it suddenly stopped. Suddenly, they could hear the sound of someone beginning to open the door.

"What's going on?" Malia quickly asked as he helped her get to her feet and readied up for a fight.

But Stiles stared at the door with a small predatory smirk finding its way on his lips as his own eyes flared blue. "This time, I had a Plan C."

The door then opened revealing, looking no worse for wear, Braeden.

* * *

Scott screamed as more jolts of electricity flooded into him as Araya stood in front of him, watching his agony with a remorseless gleam in her eye. After Kira had been forced to move the dial to one, Araya had asked where Derek was. Through the shocks, Scott told her again that he didn't know. Araya then told Kira to turn it up to two. Lydia was sitting next to Scott but had her eyes shut and resisted every impulse she had to open them. Small whimpers were escaping her as she heard Scott's cries mixed in with the crackle of electricity.

"Tell me," Araya spat at him. "Who actually has Derek? Who had a reason? A vendetta, particularly to the Hales!"

Scott grit his teeth as the power still poured into him. "I said…I don't know," he puffed out.

"Oh you know, you just haven't figured it out yet," she spat at him. "So think. Who could've taken him?"

But Scott just silently sat there as he kept getting electrocuted.

Severo went and pointed at the dial. "Tres," he told Kira.

Kira gasped as she looked at Scott in complete fear.

Scott just slowly looked over at her. "It's okay," he gasped.

"No it's not!"

The next thing anyone knew, the door to the room was pushed off it's hinges and flew off and smacked into a hunter standing a few feet away. A shape then went and collided into Severo and pinned him to the wall. Stiles had pounced for Severo, after kicking in the door with Malia, and went and sent hard punch at the man's face. The other hunters in the room went to draw their guns. One of them, at Araya's side, was clipped in his arm by a shot from Braeden's shotgun and he fell to the ground in an ungraceful heap while the other was jumped by Malia and they both tumbled to the ground in a heap. Araya was about to make her own move but Braeden pumped her shotgun and pointed it at her which made her freeze and the two women just stared each other down. Kira quickly moved to untie Lydia from the chair while Stiles and Severo were struggling against each other not too far away from them. Severo quickly tried to pull out a taser gun on him but Stiles slapped it out of his grasp where it hit Kira's foot. Malia was fighting her hunter's grip as he tried to angle his gun at Malia's head. But the guy stiffened when he felt a taser thrust into his side. Kira had picked it up and went to help Malia. The werecoyote swiped at his face, scratching him across the jaw and sent him to the floor. He was starting to roll on the floor, holding onto his face.

Severo pushed himself a step away from Stiles and he unsheathed a hunting knife from his belt. He quickly swiped the blade at Stiles and managed to grazed him by his left rib. A visible tear was in Stiles' shirt and a red line was visible inside. Stiles grit his teeth in pain but bared it and charged at Severo. He quickly struck and sunk his claws into the man's shoulder and made his arm stiffen and lose his grip on the knife. Stiles then pushed him until his back collided with the nearby window causing it to shatter and Severo fell to the ground. Stiles then moved and starting sending hard kicks into the man's sternum, side, knee; anywhere that he saw Severo was leaving open for him to hit. Scott eyes widened as he saw Stiles just keep kicking at Severo ruthlessly with a fierce look on his face. After about ten kicks, Stiles then grabbed Severo by the cuffs of his jacket, lifted him to his feet and then threw him straight into the fall, face first. A spot of red appeared where he hit the wall and he was now lying on his back, motionless with blood now flowing from the top of his nose. After tossing Severo away, Stiles was breathing deeply as he started to take in the room's setup. Scott was chained to a chair with electric cables hooked up to it and saw that they led to a generator. He then saw that there were a second set that led off to where Lydia's chair was and saw that she was positioned to be right next to Scott, facing the front of it so Kira could see them both simultaneously. Immediately, his time in the Argent's basement flashed through his mind and Stiles saw red. He had heard Araya's threats to Kira just before they burst through the door and the whole scenario played out vividly in his head. Forcing his friends to face each other as they were being tortured. Stiles' eyes flashed bright blue before he growled and quickly grabbed and tossed the generator into the nearby wall with sparks spilling out on impact.

"Stiles!" Scott cried to him. He looked down at Stiles' clawed hands and saw that they were shaking. Stiles' fangs were set in and it looked like his body was shaking, like he was about to pounce at his prey. It looked like he might not stop himself before all out killing Araya. Scott couldn't let Stiles do that. He tried to get up but he was still bound in the chains keeping him in the chair. He looked over and saw Severo unconscious and bleeding on the floor but noticed the keys attached to his belt. "Kira, get the keys," he told her.

Kira quickly snapped out of her stunned stupor and ran to the downed Severo and looked through his pockets.

Araya looked down at Severo and her other downed men before settling on the wrecked and smoking heap that was her precious generator. "This is why I don't like wolves in my home. They tend to ruin everything."

Stiles' breathing went harder and he started to stomp over at Araya. Scott own breathing quickened as he saw Stiles move in on Araya and his red eyes flared up as he yanked on the chains as hard as he could. They shattered apart and he then jumped up and grabbed onto his friend's wrist when he was just a few steps away from pouncing on her.

"Stiles stop!" he roared at him.

"Scott!" he cried out in protest as he tried to pull himself free from him to get to her.

Kira, Malia and Lydia's eyes all widened at them while Braeden watched with indifference as she kept her gun still locked on Araya.

"It's over!" Scott blinked as Stiles turned and glared right at his red eyes with his blue eyes. At the sight of the sapphire orbs, Scott's ruby eyes quickly averted to the side. Stiles caught his breath and his resistance seemed to falter. With the pressure off, Scott looked over at Araya. "If you don't have Derek then who does? Tell me."

Araya was looking annoyed. "You tell me. You know who it is, if you would only think. Someone you all know. A supernatural. One whom was turned without you knowing. That suffered an Alpha's bite or claws that you overlooked. Who? Who is it and had a vendetta against the Hales, particularly Derek. Who is it Scott?"

"Enough of your crazy games!" Stiles spat out as he pointed a clawed finger right at her. "Tell us where Derek is and who has him right now, because you're this close to having your throat torn out!"

Scott's eyes widened. Those last three words started to echo in his ears. Suddenly he had a flash of memory. Of someone having their throat torn out by an Alpha's claws. Allison aunt Kate, who had died when Peter clawed her throat the night of their Winter Formal last year. He then remembered hearing Kate talking with her brother Chris. How she suspected that Jackson could be a beta because he had claw marks on his neck and Kate had asked if an alpha's claws could turn someone. Chris had said that they could if they went deep enough. Deep like Peter's claws had gone when he had killed her.

"Kate," Scott gasped out.

At the sound of the name, Stiles snapped out of his shift and his blue eyes and claws started to fade and disappear. His face looked as shocked as he felt. "What?" he gasped out as he shook his head. "No, Scott that's impossible."

"Why?" Malia asked out. "Who's Kate?"

But Scott and Stiles just looked stunned at one another and didn't answer her. Kira even seemed confused.

So Lydia answered for them. "Kate Argent. She's a hunter."

* * *

Stiles looked at his side and saw that the knife wound Severo gave him was halfway healed. Another hour or so and there wouldn't even be a mark. "You know, I've always felt bad that I never had any grandparents to visit. But after meeting Gerard and now her, they're making me feel I dodged a bullet. Literally." Stiles said as he was leaned into his jeep with the girls.

Lydia sent him a sharp look while Malia and Kira just sighed.

Braeden then walked out of the building followed by Scott who was talking with Araya right next to him. "That's it. You're just letting us go?"

Araya let out a small huff. "I sent four men to investigate where Kate was last seen. None of them came back. And, thanks to your friends, I only have three men left that don't need medical attention. I can't risk them, and, maybe you all might have better luck finding her."

While Scott and Araya were talking, Braeden moved over to her bike which was parked not too far away.

"So, this was Plan C?" Lydia asked as she eyed Braeden checking one of her guns.

Stiles nodded as he let his eyes fall on Braeden too. "We didn't really know anything about these hunters but what Deaton told Scott and it wasn't a lot. So, I called Deaton's sister, Morrell. From what she told me, the Calaveras were more ruthless than the Argents and if we wanted to make it in relatively one piece, we were going to need some serious help so she sent me to Braeden."

"Just who is she?" Kira asked.

"Braeden,' Lydia told her. "She's a mercenary." She then looked over at Stiles.

Kira's eyes nearly popped out of her skull. "You and Scott went to a mercenary?"

"No," Stiles said. "Just me. If we were going to go and face a bunch of hunters we've never faced before then I thought it was good to get some professional help."

"Wait," Kira said suddenly. "Then why wasn't she with us from the beginning when we first got to Mexico?"

"Her idea. Make sure that her cover wasn't blown if the Calaveras had been watching us. I sent her a text before we went in. If she didn't hear from me again after an hour then she would know to move in and back us up."

Malia narrowed her eyes in Braeden's direction. "Yeah, she had our backs alright. Really let those guys have it too…I like her," she said with a nod.

Stiles let himself have the first smile he had all day. He looked up when he noticed Braeden starting to move over to them. "Thanks," he told her as he raised his hand for her to shake. "You really saved our butts back there."

Braeden returned his hand with her own. "All part of the job," she shrugged as they shook hands for a moment. "Speaking of, it's time for you to pay me," she said settling her gaze on Stiles.

"Pay?" Lydia asked as if not sure she heard correctly.

But Stiles just acted like Lydia hadn't said anything and nodded. "Yeah, I got it." He then moved to the back of his jeep and pulled out a bag. He opened it to reveal a few rolls of cash in it. He then reached into his pocket and threw in the fifty thousand he had on him before he handed the bag to her. "Here. $75,000."

Kira's eyes widened. "Seventy five thousand?"

"Actually, it's $150,000," Braeden said as she went and started counting the bills. "Stiles paid me half before coming here and would pay me the other half when you were all safe."

"All the money we got from the Yakuza," Stiles told them.

Back with Scott, he was staring at Araya with an annoyed look on his face. "Why? Why do all of this? You could've just told us that you didn't have Derek and Kate was alive."

Araya shrugged. "You wouldn't have believed me. Now, I know what kind of Alpha you are. And where your next step lies."

Scott's eyes narrowed. "What next step?"

Araya's face hardened. "When you take the bite of an innocent. When you make a wolf of your own. When you do that, then, I will cross your border and come knocking at your door."

Stiles had picked up the last bit of their conversation and squeezed his hand so hard that the cracking of his knuckles was loud enough for the girls to hear. Morrell and Braeden told him about how Araya and her hunters had kidnapped and then tortured Derek and Peter in the time after the Lunar Eclipse. Braeden had said that they were looking for the 'she-wolf' and Derek had told her it had been his sister Cora. But now Stiles realized that they must've really been looking for Kate. They had known about her the whole time and had tortured the Hales, and now them, for information on someone that they knew that none of them had known was still alive. Araya had said that they knew but that was just her excuse for putting them through Hell for her own twisted enjoyment. Just like Gerard. The two of them were two pruny peas in the same rotten pod. He glared at her as she went and smugly walked off leaving Scott just standing there. After a few seconds Scott snapped out of it and slowly went to walk over to them and Stiles moved to meet him away from the girls.

Stiles was looking at him with slightly narrowed eyes. "So, what now?"

"She thinks she knows where we can find Derek."

"She going to tell us where?" Malia asked them.

"No," Braeden called out from her bike. "She's having me take you there. Well, paying me to take you there."

"Where?" asked Stiles.

"La Iglesia," she told them.

Lydia narrowed her eyes. "The church?"

"What's the church?" said Stiles.

Braeden smirked at him. "It's not a place you'll find God."

Scott huffed. "Alright. Let's get going." He then moved for the jeep, as did everyone else.

Before Stiles moved to get into the jeep, he went to his pocket and took out the card with the Calavera's symbol on it. He glared at it as Araya's threats and actions replayed in his mind. Stiles remembered the story of the spiral that werewolves made to symbolize vendetta and he found his index finger's claw peaking out. He was starting to scratch it into the card but he stopped it after one loop. Stiles blinked before he went and scratched in another spiral inside the first but going the opposite way, also in one loop. It was a promise to the Calaveras. If they came knocking at their door, then Stiles would turn around and toss them out into the street, preferably into the path of an incoming truck. He knew what one old psycho hunter did to destroy one family, and all the trouble that followed it. He would be damned if he let this one destroy their pack and families too.

Scott was climbing into the jeep's passenger seat when he froze as he felt a tingle from his arm. He then found himself rubbing at the tattoo. He then narrowed his eyes as he then turned and saw Stiles throw something on the ground before he started to move for the jeep. He then climbed all the way inside and kept his eyes on the ground to where the object Stiles had thrown laid until he lost sight of it when the jeep started driving away.

* * *

Agent McCall made his way to the Sheriff's office and saw that he was there going through some files. He then gave the door a soft knock.

The Sheriff looked up from his desk. "McCall?"

"Do you have a minute? I wanted to talk," he asked.

The Sheriff looked down at the papers and then nodded. "Yeah. Why, is something wrong?"

"Oh no, nothing like that. I was just wondering if you knew where Scott was? I went to the house and he wasn't there and he's not answering his cell. I would ask Melissa but she's in the middle of a surgery now and I don't want to bother her."

"Stiles told me that he, Scott, Lydia, and their new friends Kira and Malia were going to go camping. With Winter Break, they wanted to have a chance to get away after…what happened," he added in a soft tone.

Raphael nodded. He knew that Allison's death was hard for Scott to deal with. He also knew that she and Lydia Martin were friends. Stiles was a part of their group and he guessed that it must've affected him too. "So it's the five of them?" he asked after a moment. "Did they say where they were going exactly?"

"Uh, just to some valley north of here."

Raphael narrowed his eyes. "Your son told you that?"

"Why? What's going on McCall?"

He shook his head. "Oh, nothing. I was just curious. I'll wait for them to come back to talk to Scott. Thank you."

The Sheriff let his eyes follow McCall as he moved to leave the station. Something was going on. He knew that the man was starting to ask questions. The type that he remembered that he had started asking before he learned of his son and his best friend being werewolves and all the crazy and unbelievable things that came with it. Something must've come up that made McCall come to him. Something relating to the boys not being here. He quickly moved to send a text to Stiles to call him back immediately.

Agent McCall left the station and entered his car but just sat there in the driver's seat. From what he could tell, the Sheriff didn't seem to know that his son had crossed the border to Mexico. He and his friends had made some excuse to leave town to explain their absence and were off somewhere behind everyone's backs. Typically, he would be looking at this situation and think that the boys took their friends so that they could try and party in a foreign country. But he couldn't help but feel it wasn't that simple.

* * *

Braeden was riding her bike down the road while Stiles' jeep followed right behind her. Everyone was silent for a while, staring at each other or at the passing desert landscape. No one seemed to want to talk right now.

Until Malia propped up in between Scott and Stiles. "Okay, I'll ask. Who's Kate Argent?"

Kira awkwardly raised her hand. "Uh…I'd like to know too."

Stiles let a small gasp escape him. "Well, we were at her funeral, so I'd like to know how she got out of a casket that was buried six feet underground."

"She was never in it," Scott mumbled.

Lydia rolled her eyes. So far, they hadn't actually answered Malia and Kira's question. "She was Allison's aunt. And a total sociopath."

"Slash psychopath," Stiles mumbled darkly.

Kira saw Scott moved to stare off at his window. She could see that this seemed to be something that none of them were comfortable talking about, especially something relating to Allison. Her death was still fresh in their minds, and no doubt they, especially Scott, were still trying to deal. "Uh, it's okay. You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to," she said to him.

But Malia gave her a look. "Uh, actually yes he does."

Scott shook his head. "No, she's right. You guys should know." He then shared a look with Stiles.

He bit the inside of his cheek before he decided to just come out and get it over with. "Alright, Kate was the one that set the fire that killed most of Derek's family."

"Some of them survived," Scott continued. "Like Cora and Peter."

"A very angry Peter," Lydia threw in.

Scott nodded. "He's the one that bit and turned me and Stiles."

"He also bit Lydia," Stiles added.

"And was the one who finally caught up to Kate and killed her," Lydia finished.

"He killed her?" Malia asked them.

"Yeah, slashed her throat. But we saw her buried," Stiles said.

But Scott shook his head. "No, we saw her casket buried, remember? She wasn't in it. The Calaveras, they had heard that Kate was killed by an Alpha's claws. They wanted to make sure that she was really dead. The body was healing. More and more as it got closer to the full moon. She was coming back, so they switched out the bodies. They took her."

"Why?" Kira asked.

"If a hunter is bitten then they have to take their own life."

Stiles sighed. "Yeah, it's in their code, but Argents have been known to not follow their own rules. Kate must've escaped from them, and the Calaveras have been hunting for her ever since." Stiles couldn't help but be completely aggravated. Because now, they had to deal and clean up after hunters' messes, again.

They all went silent for a moment before Kira leaned in. "So…Kate's a werewolf now?"

Scott narrowed his eyes. "I don't know. There's a saying: Sometimes the shape you take reflects the person you are."

Scott, Stiles and Lydia had seen it before. With Jackson after he had been bitten by Derek and he had taken the shape of the Kanima.

"So what shape is an ungodly bitch?" Lydia slurred out.

Suddenly, everyone was jerked forward when the jeep hit an abrupt halt. Braeden circled around and stopped in front of them as they all started to get out of the jeep.

"What happened?" Braeden asked them.

Stiles moved to check the side of his jeep and the tires. "I don't know. It felt like we hit something."

"Scott, we need to get there by night. It's too dangerous otherwise," Braeden told him.

Scott and Stiles shared a look. They were running out of time and only one of them could go on with Braeden.

"Go," Stiles told him. "I'll make sure everyone is okay and we'll try to catch up."

But Scott shook his head. "No. I'm not going to go without you. Any of you," he added quickly. Scott didn't want to leave Stiles alone with the girls, not when he was still a little worked up from what just happened with the Calaveras.

But Stiles wouldn't have it. "Dude, we need to find Derek and Braeden can't go by herself. Malia doesn't have his scent to memory and I have to stay and fix the jeep. You're the only one."

"Scott," Braeden called out. "You coming or not?"

Scott looked from Braeden to Stiles. He then let out a small puff before he moved off. It didn't look like he would have a choice.

But Kira ran over to him before he reached Braeden's bike. "Scott, uh, I can't think of anything else to say except for, be careful. And I know that 'be careful' sounds kind of lame and I'm sure that the second you're gone I'm going to think of something much better but-" She didn't seem to know what else to say.

Scott just shook his head. "No, 'be careful' works for me," he said with a smile.

Kira nodded before she went over and gave Scott a hug. And Scott returned it.

Braeden watched it for a second before she moved to get her helmet back on. "Scott, the sun's going down."

"Okay, I gotta go." Scott then started to pull away. "Be careful," he returned. He then moved to hop on the bike and they rode off.

Kira then looked back at Stiles, Malia and Lydia who had small smiles on their faces. That made Kira avert her eyes in embarrassment.

Malia then started to look down at the ground by the jeep's tires and her eyes narrowed as she saw something. "Stiles," she said she moved her hand through the space and grabbed a hold of something. "I don't think we hit something." She then yanked it out. "I think something hit us." Malia then held out what seemed to be a pointed claw.

Stiles reached for it and gave it a better look. He saw that it wasn't a claw, but a long and sharp piece of bone. "What the hell," he muttered as he reached for it.

"What is it?" Kira asked.

Stiles turned it over in his hands. "I don't know."

* * *

After about a half hour, Braeden began to slow her bike down until they stopped at a small cliffside. Scott climbed off and slowly walked to the edge where he saw a church surrounded by a village. Or at least the ruins of one. Everything looked wrecked, save for the church itself which seemed mostly in tact.

"La Iglesia," Braeden told him as she moved to stand next to him.

"What happened here?"

"An earthquake. It leveled the town."

"Then how is the church still standing?"

"The locals think its because of what's underneath."

"Do I want to know?" Scott asked though he was sure he was going to find out regardless.

"The church was built over the ruins of an Aztec temple. It belonged to a people called the Nagual."

Scott somewhat recognized the name. "Shapeshifters?"

"Werejaguars," Braeden told him in a hard tone.

Werejaguars, yes, Scott remembered hearing about them before. When the Kanima had first appeared, Stiles had researched it and said that they were supposed to be werejaguars from South America. Though it seemed that the definition was wrong when it came to the Kanima, it looked like werejaguars themselves must exist. And, if Kate was around here, then did that mean that a werejaguar is the shape she took after she was bitten?

"So, Kate and Derek are inside?"

Braeden shrugged. "I don't know. Never gotten this far before."

They then moved back for the bike so that they could get the rest of the way there.

* * *

Stiles was moving as fast as he could to try and get his jeep up and running again. Kira and Malia were standing close by while Lydia was sitting and resting on the hood by one of the lights. The sun had set and light in the area was dimming.

Lydia was starting to get anxious. "Maybe we should just walk?"

Stiles glared at her and removed the light that was in his mouth. "Hey, I will never abandon this jeep. You understand me? Ever." He then moved to put the light back in and resume working. "Ever," he mumbled through the light between his teeth.

Malia was moving around but she suddenly stopped. "Work faster Stiles," she quickly told him.

Stiles stopped working and looked at her. He saw that Malia became stiff but alert. "What is it?"

Malia's eyes began to scan the outskirts around them. "There's something out here with us."

Stiles moved off from the hood and stepped off until he was at Malia's side. He let his eyes roam for any signs of movement and his ears try to pick up any incoming sounds. Stiles couldn't see or hear anything, but his hair was standing on end. "Okay, stay close to the jeep," he told them. "And stay in each other's sight."

He then moved to get back to work. The faster he got the jeep running again, the faster they could get out of there and get back to Scott and Braeden.

* * *

Braeden rode her and Scott through the ruins until they were outside the church. Scott grabbed a flashlight while Braeden grabbed her gun. When they moved to reach the entrance, she quickly cocked her shotgun. The sound seemed to echo in the abandoned town and feel louder to Scott's ears.

He was eyeing it nervously. "If you find Kate in there, what are you going to do with her?"

She shrugged. "Bring her back to the Calaveras. It's what they paid me for."

"What happens after that?"

"Not my problem," she scoffed out.

Scott widened his eyes. "You don't care?"

"Do you? She's a mass murderer."

"And you're a mercenary," he countered. "The only reason you came to help us out was because Stiles paid you 150,000 dollars."

"Girl's gotta eat." Braeden was unfazed by Scott's attempt for a moral whiplash. She could feel that Scott had lived a very sheltered life so far. "You should consider yourselves lucky. A hundred and fifty thousand, I usually don't work for chunk change especially when people like the Calaveras are involved. I gave your boy Stiles a special juvenile discount."

"So, if you got paid enough, you would just kill Kate?"

She stopped walking and looked at him. "If the money was good, I'd kill you." With that, she continued on as Scott stood there looking stooped for a moment before he shook himself out of it and kept following her. They pushed their way through some rubble and found themselves in an old, dark and dank looking tunnel. "Can you catch Derek's scent?" she asked him.

Scott nodded. "Yeah, I'm already on it." But then Scott reached for Braeden to stop her.

"What?" she asked.

"There's something else in here," he muttered softly as he moved the beam of the light to try and see further down the tunnel.

"Something like what?"

"Something not human."

Braeden tightened her hold on her gun and moved to take point.

* * *

Night had fully fallen and the little light from the jeep's headlights only allowed them to see passed ten feet from where they were. Kira was getting anxious so she moved to grab her sword from the back seat. Malia was about two feet from the hood, keeping her senses on alert. Stiles was still trying to get the engine restarted with Lydia next to him, holding the flashlight. But her arm was shaking.

Stiles then sighed heatedly. "Lydia, could you please hold the light still. You shaking it like that is only going to make this take longer."

"I'm shaking it like this because we're in the middle of nowhere with your broken down jeep, about to be attacked by yet another razor clawed monster," she spat back at him. She then took a deep breath. "And I'm terrified."

"Well just be slightly less terrified," he told her. Lydia gave him a look when his gaze was off her. He held out a piece of metal to her. "Hold this."

She took it and gave it a look. "What's this?"

"I don't know. I'm hoping its not important," he said before he started to tighten a loose bolt.

"Oh god," she muttered. She felt less confident that they would be getting out of here any time soon. Alive at least.

Kira moved to stand over with Malia. "Anything?"

She shrugged. "It's too hard to see. We should've brought another flashlight." Scott had taken the only other one they had with them.

Kira nodded before she looked over at the headlights of the jeep and then looked down at her sword. She got an idea. She moved over to the light and then angled her sword over it to focus and extend some light into the distance. Now they could see a little further. Kira then noticed something in the rocks. "Hey, do you see that?"

That made Stiles stiffen and look up. "See what?"

Malia focused her eyes and found what seemed to be a shape in the shadows. And it started to move away. She roared and then ran off for it.

"Malia, wait!" Kira called out as she ran after her.

"Malia!" Stiles shouted. "Stop!"

Stiles hopped off the hood and was about to run after her too when Lydia grabbed onto his arm stopping him. "No! You fix the jeep, now!"

"But," he sputtered as he looked out in the direction that Malia ran off.

Lydia shined the light in his face to cut him off. "You are not leaving me here alone," she angrily growled at him. Lydia would not be taken out in the cliché situation where the one left behind would get torn to pieces by the stalking monster. Especially when she was the only one that couldn't really defend herself. "Focus Stiles! Fix the jeep and then we can all get out of here!"

Stiles grit his teeth as he angrily stomped back to the hood of the jeep. He finished tightening the bolt but now he didn't know what else to do as he stared at the engine. He impatiently slammed the wrench down on it and suddenly the jeep roared to life. Stiles then let out a surprised puff of air and began to smile before he ran for the driver's seat and Lydia jumped into the back. Stiles was about to start moving the car to look for them when he stiffened.

Lydia noticed. "What? What is it?"

"Blood," he gasped.

Kira was running after Malia but she quickly lost sight of her. She then stopped when she realized that now she could barely see two feet in front of her. She held her sword at ready as she began to move slower but alert. She let herself be ready to move at the slightest movement. "Malia?" she called out. Kira then stopped moving when her ears picked up the sound of movement. It sounded like it was getting closer and was moving around her. Then there was a loud crack behind her and Kira then swung her sword to defend herself.

But her hand was grabbed, by Malia. "It's me," she told her quickly. "It's me."

Kira then tried to catch her breath as her heart was racing. "What happened?" she asked her. "What's out there?"

Malia looked out into the distance and shook her head. "I don't know. But, it is big and fast." Malia then looked down and showed Kira that she was now wounded. "And it cuts deep."

They turned when they heard the jeep's horn blow and saw that its headlights were moving for them. Kira took Malia and helped her move. The jeep drove up for them and stopped a couple of feet in front of them.

Stiles quickly shot out of his seat for them. "What happened?"

"I'm okay," Malia told him.

"It attacked her," Kira told him.

"Okay, in the jeep. Now," Stiles told them sternly.

He and Kira helped move Malia into the passenger seat before Kira got in the back. Stiles gave a scan around the area but couldn't see or hear anything. He then threw himself back behind the wheel and drove them back to the road.

* * *

Braeden calmly looked around the next corner and saw that the corridor seemed clear. "Hey, not that it's any of my business, but I couldn't help noticing your tension with your friend."

Scott narrowed his eyes at her in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"You didn't want to leave him alone."

"I didn't want to leave any of them alone," he told her.

"But Stiles is the one that you're were really worried about." Scott didn't look at her and kept his gaze pointed ahead. "What, you don't trust him on his own? Is it because you're upset with the fact that he hired me behind your back?"

Scott sighed. That did bother him a bit, but that wasn't the reason. "No, though he could've told me that he wasn't planning on giving Araya any of the money to begin with. We made that plan to get Derek and all of us out of there with the least amount of fighting as possible."

Braeden rose an eyebrow at him. "Which he knew wasn't going to work because Marin and I told him that Araya wouldn't go for it. At least when werewolves were concerned. So what's the real reason?"

Scott sighed. "It's just…how he was back there."

Braeden looked away from him as they kept walking. "You mean with Severo and Araya?"

"Stiles almost lost control. He nearly broke that guy to pieces and was close to tearing Araya apart. If I hadn't stepped in, he might've actually killed her."

He'd heard about how Stiles had done stuff like that before, when he had gone against Gerard and his hunters, but to actually see it for himself. Stiles seemed so...dark. Savage. Not like the light and happy guy he'd always placed his friend was. Actually, Stiles seemed more like how the nogitsune looked when it had his face. Scott remembered too well. How Void had looked like Stiles as he savagely manhandled him during their fight at Oak Creek. It had barely been a month since Stiles had come out of that and back as a werewolf. Maybe it was too soon for him to be in situations like this again.

Braeden though seemed unbothered by Scott's concerns. "If he did, you can't say the woman wouldn't have had it coming. Or that Severo didn't deserve what he got. The two of them threatened to hurt your friend Lydia and forced your girlfriend to torture you. She even might've been forced to kill you."

"Kira? She's not my girlfriend," Scott said quickly.

She smirked. "Oh? And that hug you two had before we left?" That made Scott noticeably turn his head to face away from her. "You probably should've just kissed her."

"Kira and I aren't…well we haven't actually. Why?" he finally stopped babbling and asked.

"In case you died down here." He stopped to look at her. "You might regret that you didn't kiss her. And as for your buddy Stiles, you may not like it but he saved all of you back there. I would kill to have someone like that watching my back."

"Killing is exactly what I'm worried about."

They then went silent when they reached a corridor where they could see bones were littering the floor. Human bones. Scott could feel a change in the air. There was a new scent. Death…and it was fresh. Fresh smell of death in an ancient place like this. Out of the corner of his ears, he could hear movement. He then turned around and pointed the light behind them but found nothing there.

"What?" Braeden whispered to him.

"I just had a feeling like something was behind us."

They then started to move more slower and cautiously down the tunnel. Braeden then stopped them. "You hear that?"

Scott heard it. It was breathing. Bestial breathing, and it was close. "Is this why you never get that far?"

Then they heard movement. Rapid movement and it was coming for them.

"Get ready!" Braeden told him. Braeden then aimed her gun and let out a shot for what was approaching them from ahead.

* * *

Stiles was driving as fast as he could in order to quickly catch back up with Scott and Braeden. His eyes were narrowed on the road for a while before he looked over at Malia, and pointed his finger at her.

"You, you please don't ever do that again," he told her sternly.

"Do what?" Malia asked indignantly.

"What? Back there. That. I thought you just took off. I thought you were running."

"I was running."

Stiles angrily rolled his eyes. "No, I mean, I thought that you were running away. Leaving."

Malia's face fell a bit. "I wouldn't leave without you," she said softly to him.

Stiles settled a bit. "Really?"

Malia shook her head. "I would never leave without you," she told him softly. Her words began to make Lydia and Kira feel awkward in the back seat. Malia then turned to look at the two of them. "Them, I would leave."

Stiles turned to see that Lydia and Kira were thrown by that last one. "Yeah, it's progress."

Lydia rolled her eyes while Kira let a small smile find its way to her.

Lydia then looked down and noticed the wound that Malia had from whatever was stalking them. It still looked like it was bleeding a bit. "That doesn't look so good."

Malia just shrugged. "It's okay."

"Are you sure?" Kira asked her concerned. "It looks deep."

"Yeah," she gasped. "I can feel it healing." She then moved to have her back flat against her seat.

Stiles gave the wound a look. It did look deep. She had to be in more pain than she was letting on. He began to move his free hand for it, to try and take some pain from her, but his hand jerked about halfway over. Before, he would go and relieve pain from his friends without a second thought. But, he then had a sudden flash of taking pain and not only liking but reveling in the feel of it. Getting absolute pleasure from leeching off people's pain and suffering. Stiles' throat closed up and he pulled his hand back to the steering wheel without so much as touching her wound as he push down the rising bile in his stomach.

"Did you see anything?" Lydia asked Malia.

"Barely. It had a strong scent though."

Stiles pushed the sick feeling away. "Like what?"

"Like death."

* * *

Braeden kept firing shot after shot but the growling was still coming closer to them. They were starting to back away as the sound of the thing was getting closer.

"Where is it?!" Braeden spat. "Do you see it?"

"No, I don't know. I can't see anything!" It was too dark and he couldn't catch the sight of anything with the flashlight.

"What is this thing?" Braeden asked as she moved to reload her gun.

Scott could dimly make out some movement. "It's coming back. It's coming back!"

They could then hear it. The thing was now running. Running for them.

"Scott get behind me," Braeden told him. "Get behind me!"

But Scott stood his ground. He wouldn't just stand behind Braeden and let her take the brunt of this thing. She had told him that he should've kissed Kira because he might die in here. If he did kiss her, he didn't want it to be because he was going to die. None of them were going to die. He then went and let a giant roar loose that sounded loudly through the tunnels. The force of it seemed to actually shake the place a bit. The thing stopped in its tracks and then started to run, away from them now.

"I think I scared it," he gasped out.

Braeden gave him a look. "I think you scared everything."

But Scott saw that the shaking seemed to reveal something. "What is that?"

It looked like some kind of carved mural. As they got closer, they saw that it was of some kind of ceremonial drawing of an animalistic face.

"Tezcatlipoca. The Nagual jaguar god." Braeden noticed it looked recently disturbed. "I think we found Derek."

Scott moved to put his ears against the wall. Sure enough, he could hear a heartbeat and light breathing on the other side of it. "Stand back," he told her before he punched through it. They moved the rocks away and looked inside to find a hand reaching for them. When they shined the light inside, Scott's eyes widened. "Oh my god."

* * *

The jeep made it to the ruined town and Stiles quickly headed for the church. He stopped when he found Braeden's bike and climbed out. He could already pick up their scent and could hear movement heading for them. He went to the entrance and his eyes saw that Scott and Braeden were carrying someone out by his arms. Malia, Kira and Lydia were right behind him and they stopped when they noticed them too. Stiles looked at who they had and his face dropped a bit.

"Is that him?" Malia asked. "Is that Derek?'

Stiles didn't let his eyes leave him. "Uh, sort of."

They did have Derek alright. But, it wasn't the full grown sour faced Derek they were accustomed to. It was one that was a teenager like them and he seemed confused and nervous.

* * *

A/N: I've decided to revamp the chapters after this as I thought they weren't as good as they could be. I hope you like the better versions of them.


	3. 117

Chapter 3: 117

Last year, a teenage werewolf that was newly bitten ignored advice telling him to stay away from a lacrosse game. Little did he know that he wasn't the first to make that kind of decision.

Derek Hale, a born werewolf, had quite a lot of trouble keeping himself under control during the night of a full moon during his teenage years. One basketball game just happened to be on a night of the full moon and he ignored his mother and his uncle and sneaked off to play. It didn't take long for his uncle Peter Hale to notice that he was missing. He went to the school where he spotted Derek alone in the locker room, trying to keep himself together with the aid of a cold shower running down on him. As he stepped inside, Derek growled at him and flashed his fangs and beta blue eyes. Peter moved to turn off the water and grabbed him.

"I thought, I thought I could control it," Derek quickly said in his defense.

Peter however was unsympathetic to his excuses. "All this risk, and for a basketball game."

"It's the finals. They need me," Derek said before he ducked under him and tried to make his way to catch up with the team.

"To do what?" Peter called after him. "Rip someone's throat out on the court." His eyes followed Derek as he slumped against the lockers and started to crotch on the floor. "Even born wolves have to learn control on the full moon."

"Well it's supposed to be easier for us, why does it hurt like this?!" Derek spat out painfully.

Peter huffed out in aggravation. "Did you bring it?"

Derek shook his head. "It's not working."

"Did you bring it?" Peter repeated. Derek was breathing a little heavily but he reached into his pocket and took out a circular metal disk. The one that was branded with their family's symbol of a triskele. Peter nodded. "Go ahead."

Derek looked at it for a moment before he shook his head. "I told you, it's not working."

"Do it!" Peter snapped at him.

Derek looked at the medallion. "Alpha, Beta, Omega," he muttered.

"Again," Peter ordered.

Derek's grip on the triskele grew harder. "Alpha, Beta, Omega. Alpha, Beta, Omega," he chanted out painfully.

"Again," repeated Peter.

Derek started to repeat the chant, faster and harder with each sequence. His blue eyes flared up and his fangs set in as his wolf started to come to the surface. But Derek kept himself from lashing out as he stayed in place on the floor.

* * *

In a small gas station, the clerk noticed a car pull up to the pumps but after ten minutes, there was no sign of movement and no one had come inside the store. He went outside and saw that the car's blinkers were on and front door was open but no one was around. He then heard a noise around back and walked over to find that it was coming from the bathroom. The sounds were unusual. They seemed to be a cross of groaning, scratching and…some kind of screech.

"Hey, you okay in there?" he asked knocking on the door. He then put his ear to the door and he could swear that he was starting to hear some growling. Animal like growling. Then there was some crying. A woman's crying. "Hey, you alright?" he asked again. "What's going on in there?'

Inside the bathroom, Kate Argent was grasping the sink as she stared at her rain soaked face. She felt as if there were pins and needles turning in her insides. She was trying hard to fight to impulse to just outright growl. "Just a second," she spat to the door.

But the store clerk just kept hitting the door. "Hey," he said impatiently.

"I'll be out in a minute!" she spat. But when she looked back down at her hands, she saw that there were claws on them and the impulse to growl and go wild was getting stronger. The more she tried to resist then the more she felt in pain.

The guy just knocked again. "Open the door. I don't know what the hell you're doing or whatever you're on but I have a key. You come out or I'm coming in." There was no response so he just went and got his key out. He moved to unlock the door and tried to open the door but it wasn't budging. He guessed that she was pulling on the door to keep him from opening it. He then knocked angrily at it. "Hey, do you want me to call the cops! You hear me?!" he spat out as he angrily slapped his palm on the door. "Lady, open the door. Open it!" The door then started to budge and he stepped inside. He saw her huddled over the sink. "You okay?"

When she turned around, his eyes widened as he saw that her face had morphed into a savage and animalistic one, complete with fangs and green feline eyes. Kate claws extended to full length and she growled at him. He barely screamed for a second before she pounced and moved to maul him to pieces.

* * *

The gang got back to Beacon Hills to find that it was well in the early morning and it was raining pretty hard. They headed off for the animal clinic and stopped off at the entrance. They got out of the jeep, taking Derek with them and ran on inside. During the whole trip back, Derek had been out cold and they were starting to worry. Deaton had been waiting for them since Scott had called him and asked to get everything ready so that they could check Derek out. They moved him to the operating table and set him down.

Deaton's eyes widened as he looked at a face he hadn't seen for a few years as it had been grown into someone else. "Wow," was all he found himself able to say.

Stiles gave him a look. "Wow? Wow as in 'I've seen this before and I know exactly what to do' kind of wow? Because that's the kind of wow we're hoping for."

Now Deaton gave him a look. "I'm sorry Stiles but I think you might be overestimating my abilities."

Lydia just gave a look at the teenager on the table. He seemed so peaceful lying there. Nothing at all to suggest that he was the intense and pained guy she had always labelled Derek as. She grabbed his hand and it felt like ice. "He's cold. Really cold."

Stiles moved to touch Derek's arm and felt how frigid he was. "Yeah, he's like ice. Shouldn't he be heating up?"

"Normally," Deaton told them as he moved to put a stethoscope on and analyze him.

Scott was having trouble not looking at the unfamiliar face of someone that they knew. "Do you think this is permanent?" he asked.

Deaton pulled off the stethoscope. "I'm not even sure a medical diagnosis is even adequate. This is well beyond my experience."

"So, is that your subtle way of saying that we're screwed?" Stiles asked.

Deaton caught him by the eye. "It's too soon to say anything yet."

Stiles rubbed at his eyes. "What do we do with him now?"

"It might be best to leave him here with me. He'll be safe here in the clinic."

"You mean from Kate," Stiles said to him.

Deaton nodded. "If she's alive and she is what you say she is then she won't be able to walk passed that gate."

Yes, Scott had a vivid memory of when Peter had been looking for him and couldn't get passed Deaton's gate to get to him.

"Right, the mountain ash repels most supernaturals. I just hope werejaguars are part of the rule and not an exception," Stiles mumbled out.

Deaton gave him a small smile. "I don't think we have to worry about that."

Lydia eyes never left Derek's sleeping face. "Why would she want to do this to him?"

Deaton looked down at the de-aged werewolf. "Knowing Kate, it was for a reason that won't be good for anyone but her."

"And bad for everyone else," Stiles mumbled. He had a brief encounter with Kate himself but that was more than enough for him to know that she was bad news. "She took Derek but instead of killing him, she hid and held him for all these weeks. She wanted to do this to him but she had to wait for the Dark Moon. When he would be magically vulnerable."

Deaton gave him a small smile. "I see you've been studying." He then sighed. "You guys should probably go home. He doesn't look to be in any danger right now so maybe you all should get some sleep. It is a school night and you all need to start taking care of your own lives again."

Stiles sighed before he looked down at Derek's young teenage face. He was no older than they were right now. "Do you think he knows why Kate would do this?"

"What did he say when you found him?" Deaton asked them.

Scott shook his head. "He didn't say anything when Braeden and I found him. He seemed to be just as confused as we were. We barely got him out of the temple before he passed out."

Deaton narrowed his eyes. "And he stayed out the entire journey back?" Scott and Stiles nodded. "Alright, it's late. You all should go on home."

But Scott shook his head. "Someone should stay with him."

Scott and Stiles then moved to share a look. They knew what the other was thinking. They wanted to be the one that stayed with Derek. The three of them had been through a lot together. Granted, it started out a little rocky but they cared about Derek and, even if he may deny it, they knew Derek felt the same way.

But Lydia moved to squeeze his hand. "I'll stay," she told them. They looked like they were about to start arguing but she cut them off. "My grades are fine. Really, and I'm only taking a few classes. I'll be fine."

But Stiles shook his head. "No."

"Yes," Lydia said to him. "Go. After the day we've had, you two look like you're about to collapse on your feet."

Stiles shook again. "I'm okay."

Scott went and grabbed Stiles by the shoulder. "Stiles, let her stay."

"I'm sure you would rather be awake when Derek wakes back up and not on your last legs," Deaton pointed out to him.

Stiles went and blew heavily at the top front of his hair. "Ah, fine. But text us the second he wakes up."

"Okay," Lydia said to him.

But Stiles pointed at her. "I mean it. The second he does."

"Yeah, I got it."

Scott then went and grabbed Stiles and started to pull him away. "Thanks," he told them as he practically dragged Stiles away.

"I mean it," Stiles managed to get out before Scott pulled him out of the clinic.

Lydia and Deaton shared a small smile before he headed for his office and Lydia went to plant herself in a chair close by to better watch Derek.

* * *

Scott quietly stepped inside the house so as not to wake his mother. He tip toed in but stopped when he spotted someone on the couch. It was his father. He had almost forgotten that he sometimes slept over now that he extended his stay in Beacon Hills. He said that he was here to try and close up some follow up cases after the madness from the Yakuza deaths, Chris Argent and the fiascos at the hospital and sheriff's station. As he was staying in town, he said that he wanted for the two of them to try and work at having a relationship. After losing someone close to him, Scott thought that getting closer to his father might actually be a nice idea. Right now, he was fast asleep and Scott didn't want to wake him. He just tried to sneak out of there but he hit a metal tool box on the floor and some tools spilled and made a lot of noise as each hit the floor. It stirred his father awake and they went on to share an awkward look with each other.

"Hey dad," Scott muttered after a second. He then looked down at the mess he made. "What's with the tools?"

His dad moved off the couch and headed for him. "Oh, I was just getting started on a list of repairs you guys need done." He then went to rub at his face. "What time is it?" he sleepily mumbled.

"It's um-" Scott then looked over a clock and saw that it was already after 4am. He turned the clock away so his dad wouldn't see it. "Midnight," he told him.

"We were supposed to have dinner. We had a deal, didn't we? When your mom has the night shift, we have dinner."

That's right, they had made that arrangement. He had hoped to be home in time to make it but the La Iglesia detour pushed it out of his mind. "I'm sorry, I totally forgot. When we got back from the camping trip I had to go back to the animal clinic to finish up work."

"I heard," Raphael nodded. "Where did you guys go for your trip anyway?"

"Oh, just some lake up north."

"North huh? Did you at least get something to eat before you came back?"

"Yeah, Mexican," Scott said before he moved off for bed.

Raphael watched Scott go off before he moved over to the clock. He turned it to see what the time really was. He couldn't have been at the clinic because it would've closed hours ago and he knew he lied about where they were. And not only did Scott just lie to him but he did it convincingly, so much that if he didn't know better he would've completely have bought it. He would have to look further into it.

* * *

Lydia was sleeping off in the corner until some noise made her start to stir awake. She opened her eyes to find that Derek was still out on the table and Deaton was looking him over, checking his pulse.

"How's he doing?" she slurred out.

He shook his head. "His heart rate is alarmingly high."

She quickly got up and went over to the table. She moved to run her fingers across his hand like last night and found that his temperature was different. "He's a lot warmer now."

"Lydia, I'm going to try something. I'd like for you to keep holding his hand, if that's okay?" Lydia nodded and he moved to get a scalpel from the table.

He then moved and made a small cut on his arm, above his wrist. As he dragged the blade through, the skin began to knit itself back together barely a second after he made the cut.

"That…looks like it healed pretty fast." After Stiles and Malia had suffered wounds when they were in Mexico it had taken over an hour for them to heal from them, at least. Even scratches took a couple of seconds before they started to heal and it was much slower than that.

"Unusually fast."

"What does that mean?" she asked him.

Deaton was thrown. "I'm not sure." He'd never seen a supernatural person heal that quickly. In an instant. Yet, he felt that this might not be a good sign. "Let's try something else. Grab me a five millimeter syringe. Top drawer."

Lydia went for the syringes while Deaton went to his chemicals. While they were working, they could hear some slight movement behind them. They turned around and found Derek was now sitting up on the table. He was breathing rather loudly and his claws were visible on his hands. They called his name as he moved to his feet but he looked at them with his blue eyes glowing. They both tried to speak to him but he just stared at them. As he stared, he seemed to be breathing harder and glaring fiercer every passing second. Deaton moved to shield Lydia from sight as he could see that Derek didn't seem to have full use of his senses. They kept trying to reason with him but Derek was shaking his head and tried to cover his ears as if to block out unbearable noise. He seemed to be getting more agitated before he moved to strike to silence them. He shot his claws out and clipped Deaton by his arm. Lydia moved down to Deaton and then looked up to find that Derek was now gone.

* * *

Stiles picked up Scott and quickly began to inform him on some quick stuff he learned.

"Okay, listen I did some digging online about jaguars. First of all, did you know that they are the third biggest family of cats in the world? Just behind lions and tigers."

Scott narrowed his eyes and looked over at him. "Stiles, did you get any sleep?"

But Stiles kept talking like Scott hadn't said anything. "And jaguars are mostly solitary predators and really nasty ones. They like to stalk their intended prey. They lie in wait until it's at the most vulnerable moment and that's when they strike. That sound familiar to you?"

Scott let out a small huff. That seemed to fit Kate's M.O. to a T. She had done that with him. Waited until Allison had just learned the truth and was confused before she sprung her against him after the formal. "Guess we now know why she took that shape. Did you find anything that might help us to find her?"

"No," Stiles muttered as he pulled into the school's parking lot. "But if she went through all the trouble of holding Derek for weeks so she could magically cocoon him, she won't just stand back and let us make off with him."

"So I guess we just wait."

"Yeah," Stiles said as they parked and moved to get out. "You wanna bring Malia and Kira over to the clinic after school?"

"You'd think they would want to come?"

"Why wouldn't they?"

"We've already asked them for a lot. And, after what happened to them in Mexico, you'd think they still want to keep coming along with us?"

"Yeah, I think so. At least I'm sure Malia would. I kept waiting for her to show up last night after I dropped you off."

Scott's eyes widened. "Into your room?"

"Yeah. More than once, I would be in my bed, it's two in the morning, and she just comes in, like five times a week."

"And then what happens?" Scott asked eagerly.

"Well, once or twice, I take her hand and drag her outside and we head to the woods for a run. You know, she's still adjusting but she does miss running through the trees in the night. I think it helps when she has some company now. And after we would rest back in my room." Stiles let a small smile creep on him as the times of him and Malia freely running together played in his head. Her smile and her laugh as they often would try to race and outrun each other.

Scott narrowed his eyes. "And when you don't do that?" Stiles stopped and gave him a look. Scott's eyes widened. "Really? Just like that?"

"Oh yeah, just like that and let me just say that it's a good thing for my back that I have my healing again."

Scott's jaw nearly fell off. "Holy-"

Stiles nodded. "Yeah, right on right?" he said as he kept on walking and Scott followed. "Then, after that, we spend the rest of the night spooning."

Scott let a small smile now creep on him. "Well that sounds okay." It sounded like Stiles and Malia were doing okay together.

"Yeah, but she likes it more when I'm the little spoon. And…sometimes I like it too."

Scott let a small smirk out at that. "So then, you two are together now? You're dating?"

The smile then started to fade a bit from him. "I don't know. I think she can tell that I'm not telling her something."

Scott's face fell too. "You mean Peter? That she's his daughter?"

Yes, Peter. The two of them were shocked when Lydia shared her and Allison's discovery with them. That Peter Hale was her father. A Star Wars class moment and, unfortunately for Stiles, not the good kind. This also meant that she was Derek and Cora's cousin as well. It would also mean that after his little…thing with Cora, he went and got in bed with her cousin. He had hooked up with Derek's little sister and now was dating his newly discovered cousin. Add in the fact that he was impressed with Talia Hale's tenure as an Alpha and even thought Laura had been kind of cute, well, aside from the being torn in two part. What was it with him being drawn to Hale women? But that was beside the point right now.

"She knows now that she didn't really kill her mom and sister eight years ago. So now, she wants to know why someone did kill them and this could actually lead her to answers. We've got to tell her Scott," he said resolutely as he stomped off.

* * *

Scott, Stiles, Kira and Malia met each other again as they settled in History class. Mr. Yukimura started the lesson with some notes. As he finished he began his lecture.

"It might surprise you to know that some of history's greatest leaders have had to endure some pretty great failures. One you'll recognize in last night's reading failed in business, had a nervous breakdown, was defeated for both houses of Congress and lost as Vice President before he was finally elected as one of the finest Presidents that this country has ever seen. Who was he?"

A few people in the classroom rose their hands which included Stiles and Kira. Scott just sat there staring blankly. He hadn't been able to focus on the reading much. Not with everything that was happening around him. He looked over at Stiles who seemed quite confident and was smiling. Stiles caught his eye and gave him a wink before Scott rolled his. Behind them, Malia was looking over the textbook and was highlighting passages in a red highlighter while she had a yellow one in her mouth. Mr. Yukimura noticed her and called out her name. She looked up to see that everyone was now looking at her. She just stared blankly back at them without saying a word. Suddenly, Scott's phone started to ring.

"Phones off Scott," Mr. Yukimura told him and Scott nodded as he quickly turned it off without checking who it was. "Malia?" he said looking back at the girl who was still stumped.

Stiles went and ducked his head down as he put his hand over his mouth. " _Malia, Abraham Lincoln_ ," he mumbled under his breath.

Scott had heard him but it looked like Malia hadn't.

"Malia?" Mr. Yukimura didn't see Stiles try and give her the answer to her and didn't seem to pay attention to the fact his daughter was trying to catch his attention. "Gettysburg Address?" he said trying to give Malia a clue.

Stiles then let out a loud cough which made Mr. Yukimura and a few students look at him. "Sorry," he said to them. He then covered his mouth again. " _Malia, the answer is Lincoln_ ," he mumbled under his breath again.

Malia had been one of those that looked at him, which had been Stiles' plan to get her attention. She then took the highlighter out of her mouth. "Uh, Lincoln?" she said half unsure.

Mr. Yukimura gave her a smile but it faded when he heard another phone ping, this time from Stiles. "Phones off, everyone," he said more sternly. "That's correct Malia." Malia sighed out in relief while Stiles went and shared a smile with Scott. But their smiles faded when they saw that Mr. Yukimura was giving them both a look. He seemed to have guessed what had just happened. But there was then a third ping and Yukimura visibly grew annoyed. "I said phones off!"

"Dad," Kira spoke up. "That was yours."

"Oh." Now he felt embarrassed. He quickly went to his phone to see that he was just texted. "Scott, call Lydia," he read out.

At that, both Scott and Stiles gave each other a look. There was only one reason why they would have to call her now.

* * *

Scott and Stiles practically charged through the door as they entered the clinic to find Lydia was helping to treat up a wound on Deaton's arm.

"What happened?" Scott said as he saw the blood stained bandage.

"Derek," Lydia mumbled.

"He attacked you two? Are you okay?" Stiles asked quickly.

"We're fine," Deaton told him. "This wasn't an attack. It was more like a reflex. When an animal is cornered they often lash out in fear or desperation. Derek…he seems to not only be younger in body, I think he's younger in his mind too."

Lydia shook his head. "He didn't recognize either of us. And it definitely looked like he was scared out of his mind."

Scott narrowed his eyes as his nostrils flared up. "She's right. Do you smell that? Derek's scent."

Stiles let himself take a few sniffs before his own eyes narrowed. "Kind of," Stiles said as he sniffed the air. He was having a bit of trouble getting used to a few of his powers again, among them tracking scents and reading chemo signals. They guessed it was normal if Peter's condition after coming back to life was anything to go by. "Uh, he's terrified and...confused?" he asked catching Scott's eye to see if he had read it right and Scott nodded. "So wait, are you saying that Derek has amnesia?"

"More like his memories passed his teenage years don't exist anymore. For all intended purposes, Derek is truly back to being a teen boy again."

"A teen wolf," Stiles put in before he sighed heavily. "Okay, so if you're a teenage werewolf and you're confused and scared, where do you go?"

"A wolf goes back to its den but Derek lives in a loft," answered Scott.

But Stiles shook his head. "No, not as a teenager."

"The Hale House," Lydia said catching on.

Deaton nodded. "He wouldn't remember the fire. It wouldn't have happened yet."

They took a moment to let the implications of that revelation sink in.

"He's going to get there and expect to see his home and find nothing but a burnt out wreck," Scott mumbled.

Stiles scratched the side of his head. "Actually, my dad told me that county started demolition on the place around two weeks ago. There won't even be a wreck."

Scott huffed out heatedly and tiredly. "We better go and find him before he gets there then."

Before Scott and Stiles could leave the room, Lydia stepped over to them. "Wait, hold on. So you do manage to catch up to him, what are you going to say to him? His whole family is dead?"

"I guess I'm going to have to." Scott mumbled.

"Oh, yeah, good luck with that," Lydia said with sarcasm plain and evident in her tone and face.

Stiles had to think Lydia had a point. Derek had to live the trauma of losing everyone once. He personally knew how hard it was to lose family. To have it all hit him hard and fresh a second time, no one deserved to happen to them. "She's probably right. We probably shouldn't. At least until we figure out how to get him back to normal."

Scott shook his head. "I can't lie to him."

Stiles shrugged. "Fine, I'll do it."

"No, I don't think any of us can. Remember, he can hear our heartbeat rising." That's right. Werewolves were able to tell when people were lying through their heartbeats. "When we find him, we tell him the truth."

Deaton just looked at him. "If he gets to the house first, we won't have to."

* * *

Derek ran through the streets of Beacon Hills, adrenaline making him run even faster than normal. Nothing was going to stop him from getting home. Home to his mother. Home to his older and younger sisters. To his mother's pack. Even to his annoying uncle. As he reached the woods, the familiar air seemed to make him feel more at ease and calm down. He felt his mind going back to normal and his nerves beginning to loosen the closer he got to his house. But, when he reached his family's land, he was shocked. There was a metal fence surrounding the property that wasn't supposed to be there. He quickly cut the gate open with his strength and stepped inside. He took a few steps and froze. Instead of finding his big and comforting home, he found a pile of rubble and broken pieces of wood. There where demolition vehicles nearby. His entire home had been leveled. It was gone.

He kneeled in front of the rubble, wondering what had happened to his home and his family when a sheriff's station van pulled up. Deputies Parrish and Haigh step out and make their way into the gate through the opening that Derek made.

"Excuse me young man," Parrish said as they walked to him.

Haigh smirked at him. "You're calling him young man?" he snickered.

"Shut up Haigh," Parrish muttered as he kept moving for Derek. "I'm sorry but you can't be here." Derek remained unresponsive and just kept staring at the rubble.

"Hey dumbass," Haigh shot out. "Ever hear of no trespassing?"

Derek barely turned his head at them. "This is my house," he spat out before looking back at the rubble.

Haigh snorted. "No one's been here for years kid. Now, get the hell out of here."

"Hey," Parrish said a bit indignantly. "Maybe a slightly more gentler touch," he suggested. He then moved in a bit closer to Derek. "Are you alright? We can help you if something's wrong."

Derek just kept his eyes on the rubble. He didn't understand. It felt like he had just been in his house just yesterday and it was standing proud and tall. His mother had been here. Laura. Cora. Peter. His mom's pack. "What happened to my house? Where's my family? Where's my mother?!" he asked, starting to panic.

Haigh had enough. "Alright, let's go now," he told him as he moved to grab his arm.

Derek quickly moved to push his hand away and then tightly gripped Haigh's arm so tightly that it hurt.

"Whoa," Parrish said to Derek making him let go and glare at him. "Take it easy." He then saw Haigh seething with anger as he reached for his pocket and pulled out a taser. "No, wait!" he said but Haigh ignored him and jammed the taser into Derek's side. "Hey, stand down!"

But Haigh kept going. Zapping Derek who stiffened up and couldn't fight through the voltage going into his body. Derek then collapsed onto the ground and was barely aware of the two men arguing as cuffs were put on his wrists before he was lifted up and thrown into the backseat of the van. When the effects of the taser had mostly worn off, he was being pulled out of the van and thrown into a wooden bench at the police station. His wrist was handcuffed to the bench's arm while the two deputies moved to take and run his prints.

Parrish gave Haigh the form with the prints to run as he looked over at Derek to see that he seemed to have calmed down and was just staring off.

Derek turned to look at the two of them as they started mumbling to each other. The one that shocked him, Haigh, looked like he was starting to get irritated with Parrish. After a second, he moved over to him.

"The other deputy thinks I'm idiot for even asking but I have a feeling that if I take these cuffs off, we going to be okay?" Derek stared blankly at him. "I think you'll help us find your family so that we can get you out of here. Am I right?"

Derek slowly nodded to him and Parrish moved to uncuff him. "The other deputy is the idiot."

Parrish gave him a small smile. "Can't argue with that," he mumbled in amusement.

"Parrish! Get over here!" Haigh called out to him. When he got to him, he pointed to his screen. "I've run this kid's prints eight times and this is all that comes up."

Parrish looked and saw that it was an arrest report from only a couple of weeks ago. "Derek Hale?" That didn't make sense to him since he had seen Derek himself when Agent McCall had arrested both him and Chris Argent during the Yakuza investigation. This kid wasn't him.

"You say Hale?"

Their talking drew the attention of Sheriff Stilinski and he moved over to them to see what they were looking at. He saw the arrest report they were looking at and then looked over at the kid they had on the bench. He took a moment to look between them and his face fell a bit. He then moved over to get a closer look at the kid. He didn't want to believe it but as he looked at his eyes, he saw that this was Derek Hale. He spent enough time with the guy, especially when his son was possessed to recognize them. And he recognized this boy as well. During his time before learning of the supernatural, he had looked further into the Hale Fire and had seen old pictures of the Hale Family and of a younger Derek Hale. This was definitely the same kid he saw in the picture. Though this boy was looking at him like he didn't have a clue who he even was. But the Sheriff started to shake his head. No, this couldn't be Derek. Even in this crazy new world he'd been thrown in, things like this don't happen. At least that's what he thought before he saw Scott and Stiles tumbling in and their eyes locked in on the boy as if they had found what they were looking for. Now, he felt his mind going to new and crazier heights.

Scott and Stiles had been in the jeep, heading for the Hale House grounds, when there was an alert on the police radio. They heard of a teenage boy being picked up from the grounds and taken to the station. At that, Stiles turned the jeep completely around and headed for the station. They were relieved to see that Derek was there, safe and sound, and he was in the care of Stiles' dad. And, from the look on his face, he seemed to already know who the kid in the chair really was.

"Thank god," Stiles mumbled as he waved hi to his dad.

The Sheriff gave them a pointed look before he turned to his deputies. "I'll handle this." He then signaled for the boys to follow him as he moved for his office. As soon as they closed the door he moved to sit on his desk and took a deep breath, bracing himself. "Okay. I want you two to be honest with me. Absolutely, completely honest." The two of them nodded and seemed ready to talk. "Have you've been time traveling?"

That made both Scott and Stiles' faces fall.

"Hang on, what?" Stiles said in confusion.

"Because if time traveling is real, you know what, I'm done. I'm out. You're going to be driving ME to Eichen House." He looked close to having a full mental breakdown.

"We found him like that," Scott told him.

"Where? Swimming in the Fountain of Youth?" the Sheriff spat out.

"No," Stiles cut in. "We found him buried in a tomb of wolfsbane, in an Aztec temple in Mexico, underneath a church in a town that was destroyed by an earthquake," he mumbled out. That explanation even had Scott wanting to hit his head.

His father narrowed his eyes at him. "You told me that you were camping."

"Yeah, we were…in Mexico," he said lamely.

Before the Sheriff could shout, Scott jumped in. "Look, Derek's been aged backwards and he can't remember anything."

"We just need to talk to him," Stiles asked.

His dad huffed as he calmed himself and sat back down. "So far, he's not talking to anybody."

Scott turned to look over at him. "He'll talk to me."

The Sheriff moved to go and get Derek and then left the three of them in his office to talk. Immediately, Scott and Stiles told Derek that they could help him but he had to go with them.

"Why would I go anywhere with you?" Derek asked them.

"There was an accident," Scott told him. "You lost some memory but we can help you get it back."

"How much memory?" asked Derek.

"A lot," Scott breathed out. "But you can trust us."

As they were talking, Stiles was sitting on the side of his dad's desk when his eyes roamed on it and came upon some letters. His eyes narrowed as they had financial time stamps on them. One of them, was from Eichen House. The other seemed to be from the hospital.

Scott then bent down and revealed his red eyes to Derek.

"You're an Alpha?" Derek gasped. "Okay, who are you? And who is he? Who are you?" he asked pointing at Stiles.

Stiles finally turned away from the letters to look at him. "Oh, we're the guys keeping you out of jail." Which Stiles thought was kind of poetic since last year they had done what they could to get him tossed into jail when they first met and with Derek first meeting them they're trying their hardest to free him. Stiles then let his own blue eyes come out though Scott quickly turned his back to Stiles to look back at Derek. Stiles then made them vanish. "My dad's the Sheriff. He knows about us and you. He's going to help get you out but only if you leave with us."

"Let us help you," Scott told him but Derek just turned to look away from them.

"Why should I? I don't even know you," he said to them.

"Actually, you do know us," Scott told him.

"More than any of us would like," Stiles playfully threw in.

"So you two say."

Stiles decided it was time for a more firm approach. "Derek, dude you just attacked two of my dad's deputies, not to mention you attacked two friends of ours that were trying to take care of you so you're pushing your luck already."

Derek's face softened up. "You mean those two that were with me when I woke up. I hurt them?"

"No," Scott said quickly. "Not really."

"You almost tore one of their arms off," Stiles threw in making Scott turn and give him a look.

"I just woke up and was freaking out," Derek defended indignantly. "And that deputy was an ass."

Stiles gave a look over at Haigh who was glaring a bit at Derek through the office's windows. "Yeah, he's not exactly Mr. Sunshine," he admitted. "But to just lose it and attack four people in two hours. You would think you just got claws yesterday. You're supposed to be a born wolf."

Derek dropped his gaze. "I'm fine, as long as it's not a full moon."

Scott's eyes narrowed in surprise. "You still have trouble on a full moon?" When he first met Derek, he had told him that as a born wolf, he had an easier time with learning control. But here he was, hardly any younger than he was and he had problems with control on a full moon.

"I said I'm fine!" Derek spat at him.

Stiles nodded before he picked himself up. "So, you coming with us or not?"

Derek eyed him. "You want me to trust you? Where's my family?"

Scott and Stiles shared a small look. This was the part that they were dreading.

Scott breathed and just decided to get it over with. "There was a fire and…" But when Scott looked down at Derek's eyes, his yet to be hardened eyes, he found himself shriveling up inside. "They're not here anymore. They're fine," he found himself saying. "They just moved out of Beacon Hills. We're going to take you to them as soon as we figure out how to get your memories back."

Derek nodded to him. "Okay."

But Stiles narrowed his eyes at Scott. He had been adamant about telling Derek the truth but it looked like he saw what him and Lydia were worried about after all. He was able to tell that Scott was lying through his heartbeat but it seemed that Derek wasn't able to. Maybe he hadn't learned how to do that yet so they were in the clear for now. He went to look over at his father and nodded to let him now that they were done. He then pulled Scott off to the side while Derek was being processed out.

"Good work back there," Stiles told him.

But Scott shook his head. "I shouldn't have done that. I lied my ass off."

"Hey, your ass if fine. You just saved him a ton of unnecessary pain. We'll figure this out in a day or two, he goes back to being old Derek and everyone's happy. Well, except for Derek who is never happy."

Scott just huffed. "He's just another person that we're lying to. I always feel like it's better when we tell the truth. With Lydia, my mom, your dad."

"So you'd rather have told Derek his home burned with his family inside, his older sister was ripped in half by his uncle who he killed and managed to come back to life and is living in his dank and empty loft?" He then pointed to the kid. "You heard him Scott, he still has trouble with the full moon. He can't manage his emotions that well yet. Remember how it was when just the thought of Allison being hurt made you go nuts? Tell him the truth now and he will lose it and could hurt who knows how many people. You want to do that to him?"

Scott sighed. He hated to admit it but Stiles made a good point. "Alright just, bring him to my house and don't let him out of your sight."

"And where are you going?"

Scott's jaw tightened. "I'm going to talk to the guy we should've talked to before," he huffed out.

"Uh, yeah I hate that guy," Stiles called out after Scott as he was leaving the station.

As he finished watching Scott leave, Stiles turned to see that his father was making his way over to him.

"Stiles, you have to be careful."

Stiles just waved his hand off. "Don't worry Dad. I can handle grown and grumpy Derek. Teenage, mopey Derek should be no problem."

"I wasn't talking about Derek. I mean you have to be careful around Agent McCall."

Stiles was taken aback. "Scott's dad?"

"He's starting to ask questions again."

"About what? I thought we took care of that already?" Stiles asked in confusion.

A few days after the mess with the Nogitsune was done with, McCall started to ask questions about Stiles' activities after he left Eichen House and for his whereabouts on the night that the hospital and police station were attacked by the Oni. They guessed that he might've seen something during the attack, most likely the nogitsune when it looked like him. They made an alibi to give him to try and drive him away and it seemed to have done the trick as he had stopped asking anymore questions. The hospital footage that night had been corrupted and unwatchable due to an electrical distortion according to the technicians. They guessed that must've been to Void's power. When he had nothing else to go on, it seemed like Agent McCall might've gone on to chalk it up to adrenaline and stress of the moment. Now, it was back again for some reason.

His dad sighed. "Yeah, well he came to see me early yesterday and asked where you were. I told him that you kids had gone camping up north like you told me, but, he didn't seem to believe me. I wonder why," he asked pointedly.

"Dad," he started.

But his father cut him off. "I thought we were passed you hiding these kind of things from me."

Stiles took a moment to look down at his feet. "Dad, what would you have done if I told you that we were going to Mexico to chase down a lead on Derek being taken by a family of Mexican hunters?"

"Well I would've told you that maybe all of you belonged in Eichen House because that was insane," he answered heatedly. "You kids barely scraped by one family of gun totting lunatics and you wanted to willingly throw yourselves in front of another." That made Stiles give him a look. "But, I would've realized that I couldn't stop you boys and would've told you to be careful. McCall must've found out about your trip. Probably got tipped off by the border police. So, you need to watch yourself around him, okay?"

Stiles nodded. "Yeah, I will."

His dad nodded back. "Okay." He then turned to give Derek a last look. "Well he's all yours. Try not to let anything else weird happen. I can only take so much craziness at once."

Stiles thought that he best not mention that he used stolen Yakuza money to hire a mercenary for help and that Kate Argent was now back from the dead as a shapeshifting she-jaguar.

* * *

Lydia had met with Kira after school and took off in her car. She drove them off into a small gas station. Kira was on the phone with Scott and hung up as soon as they stopped at one of the pumps.

"Okay, Scott's going to find Peter and we're supposed to meet Stiles at Scott's house. He's heading there right now with Derek."

Lydia sighed. "That sounds like a horrible plan." Kira gave her a nervous look. "But we've had worse," she said quickly. "Yesterday, in Mexico."

"Yeah," Kira sighed. "About that. Remember when we were in the club and you and Scott were tied to electrified cables?"

Lydia squinted her eyes. "Vividly," she said to her.

Kira wanted to slap her forehead. Of course Lydia remembered that. Why wouldn't she remember something that was tense and traumatic and no doubt wouldn't be forgotten any time soon, if ever. "Right, well, I guess what I'm trying to ask is, it was getting pretty intense, before Stiles and Malia showed up. But, I still had to turn the dial to two and…if my hand was on the dial connected to you, and I had to turn it up to ten."

"Would I be angry?" Lydia cut in.

Kira nodded "Yeah?" she asked nervously.

Lydia gently shook her head. "No. Because I knew you had no choice. Exactly like Scott knows. And if you're worried about him, just remember, you're a bad ass katana wielding kitsune. He couldn't be more into you." That made Kira smile. Lydia then stepped out of the car. "Now, just grab one of the cards and we can fill up. Beacon Hills Banking," she told her before she moved off.

Kira looked to the overhead sun blocker to find that there were over half a dozen cards. "Uh, does this many cards mean you have good credit or bad?" she asked curiously. But Kira then looked down and saw that the gas gauge was on full. "Hey, it looks like you have a full tank." But she looked and saw that Lydia hadn't headed inside the store. "Lydia?" Kira then stepped out of the car and went after her. She quickly spotted her around the corner of the store. She seemed to be staring out into space. "Are you okay? Lydia?"

Lydia just kept staring off. "Don't look," she told her.

But Kira turned and quickly saw why she told her that. In the bathroom, there was a dead man lying there. His body, especially his head, looked like it had been torn apart and there was dried blood all over the floor around him and splattered on the walls.


	4. 117 part 2

Chapter 4: 117 part 2

The sun had set by the time that Scott had stopped his bike right outside the loft. He took a hard breath as he readied himself to do something unpleasant. But when he took his helmet off, he saw that someone else was already here. Malia.

"What are you doing here?" he asked her as he got off his bike.

"I heard that you were coming here to talk to Peter and since Lydia tells me that he's basically Satan in a V-neck I figured you shouldn't be alone."

Scott started to get nervous. The last thing he wanted was for Malia to be around him and risk him doing or saying something that will have her find out the truth. Stiles wanted to be the one to tell her. "I can handle Peter," he said trying to draw her away.

But Malia was stubborn. "You can handle him better with me."

She then moved off for the loft and Scott quickly followed after her. He could only cross his fingers and hope that Peter behaved himself, however slim that may be. They moved into the building and got to the sliding door.

"Just…let me do the talking," Scott told her as he went and pushed it open.

As they walked in, Malia took the whole place in though her eyes narrowed. "What's wrong with you?" she asked him.

"Nothing," he told her.

"Your heart is pounding like crazy. You nervous?"

"He's just bad at introductions," mumbled an all too familiar voice.

Scott turned at the sound of it to find Peter sitting in a couch to the side, reading a book. "Peter," he braced himself as he sent a look Malia's way. He had to introduce her now. "This is Malia," he said softly.

Peter put his book down as he slowly picked himself up, his eyes never leaving Malia. Not leaving his now revealed daughter. He took a moment to really look at her. "Beautiful eyes," he muttered finally. "Did you get them from your father?" he asked as he slowly stepped over for them.

"Mother,' she told him with a look that told them that Peter was weirding her out.

But Peter didn't seem bothered by her reaction. "Interesting. Anyway," he snapped out of his stupor and looked over at Scott. "I'm sure they told you all about me."

Malia nodded. "Stiles told me everything about you."

"Stiles?" he asked as he looked at Scott who narrowed his eyes at him. Peter's eyes widened. "Oh, I see. Wow. Starting to see his type. Did he tell you that its thanks to me that he and his friends even have their power?"

She barely shrugged. "Yeah. The homicidal killing spree also came up."

Peter just gave her a small smile. "We're all works in progress."

"Well when you progress into your next killing spree why don't you try and make sure they all stay dead," she bit back.

That made Peter's eyes narrow a bit. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"What do you know about people being turned by a scratch?" Scott asked him.

"Did you scratch someone Scott?" he asked a little surprised. "Well, don't worry. The claws have to go in pretty deep."

"But it's possible," Scott asked him as he started to walk off. "Like if you clawed out someone's throat?" he said with a pointed tone.

Peter rolled his eyes. "Well, yeah its possible. It's also beyond rare. We're talking one in a-" But Peter stopped when he started to get the hints that Scott was dropping. His face then went into an aggravated snarl. "Million."

* * *

Stiles brought Derek into Scott's house and they made their way through the door that he opened with his key.

"We're going to wait here for Scott. He's out trying to find a way to get your memories back. Until he gets back, we will sit here and wait patiently and quietly," he said to Derek pointedly. "You don't talk to anyone."

"Can I talk to you?" Derek asked.

"No."

"Good," Derek mumbled.

"Fine," Stiles mumbled back.

"And him?" Derek pointed off.

Stiles then stopped as he saw that Scott's dad was in the kitchen. "Oh," he said in surprise. He was the last person Stiles wanted around them, especially now. "What are you doing here?!" he spat out.

Agent McCall rose his eyebrow at him. "I live here."

"Lived here. Past tense," Stiles said to him with a smile though it didn't reach his eyes.

McCall answered with a similar one before he wiped it off. "What are you guys doing here?" McCall asked the boys.

"Waiting for Scott," Derek told him.

"Yeah, so am I. We're supposed to have dinner. I brought extra, you want some?"

"Yeah," Derek called out enthusiastically. He hadn't eaten all day.

"No. We're not hungry." Stiles had said that at the same time that Derek had said his answer.

"No, I'm starving," Derek cut in.

"But we can't really eat now," Stiles stressed out through clenched teeth though he tried to smile. His dad's warning about Scott's father seemed to be more real now with him staring him down.

"Why not?" Derek asked.

Stiles wanted nothing more than to knock Derek out right then and there.

But McCall nodded. "Well if you're not hungry Stiles you don't have to eat but you could still sit with us while your friend and I eat. What's your name?" he asked the new boy.

"Miguel!" Stiles said loudly to drown out Derek saying his name. Derek just looked at him in confusion but Stiles tried hard to keep himself facing McCall with a straight face. "He's my cousin. Miguel. From Mexico," he said as he moved to slam his hand down, firmly, on Derek's shoulder and mentally begged for Derek to finally take the hint. Which he seemed to finally do since Derek just smiled and nodded his head.

Agent McCall's eyes rose at that though. "Oh, Mexico huh?" He remembered that he and his son had gone off to Mexico the other day. And, judging from Stiles' apparent unease, this other boy might be connected by why and what they were doing. He then suspected that this kid might help give him some answers. He then asked if wanted to stay for dinner in Spanish. And the boy answered back in Spanish, perfectly. "Fantastic, egg roll?" he asked.

Derek smiled. "Hell yeah."

He then made his way over to McCall while Stiles let out a hard, overdone laugh. "Ha, fantastic! Yeah, egg roll," he grunted as he moved to sit with them.

Stiles just sat quietly with the two of them as they ate, hoping and praying that they would choose to just eat in silence. But, Scott's dad dashed those hopes.

"So Miguel, what did you say your last name was again?"

"Oh it's Juarez," Stiles spoke up. "Cinqua Tiago."

Derek looked at Stiles confused. He didn't know why but this guy was giving him a sense of dejavu for some reason.

McCall looked at Stiles with raised eyebrows. "That's, uh, a mouthful," he nodded. He then turned to Derek. "How do you spell that?"

Derek just looked at Stiles pointedly. He decided that since Stiles seemed to want to speak for him so much, he could handle that one. As Stiles tried to talk his way out of it, Derek noticed that there was a federal badge on the table. "Mr. McCall, you're an FBI agent?" he asked cutting in.

"He's a low level," Stiles muttered to him. "Very low level."

But Derek tuned Stiles out. "So, do you investigate murders?"

McCall nodded, feeling happy to meet someone in his son's orbit that seemed to be interested in his work. "Sometimes. If it's a federal crime."

"What about fires?" Derek asked him.

Stiles now knew where Derek was trying to take this. "Uh, hey, you know what? I'm thinking that maybe we should find out what's keeping Scott? Remember him? Scott. We should call Scott," he said trying in vain to get off this topic.

But Derek and Agent McCall ignored him.

"What kind of fires?" McCall asked.

"Do you know anything about the Hale Family?" Derek asked him.

Stiles grit his teeth. Oh, they were screwed now.

* * *

Peter went and angrily slammed his palms on a nearby table. "Can someone in this town stay dead?!"

"I think they were hoping you would," Malia told him.

"Do you have any idea why Kate would turn Derek into a teenager again?" Scott asked, trying to keep them on target.

Peter was silent for a moment before he looked back at him. "What color were his eyes?'

"Blue," he said.

Peter nodded. "After Paige…which could mean around the time he first met Kate."

Scott blinked. "Wait, they knew each other?" Suddenly Scott remembered the time after they thought Kate was dead. "Are you telling me that the story that Stiles and Derek gave to the press last year was true? The one that said that Derek and Kate…that wasn't just a story they made up?"

Peter nodded as he turned to fully face him. "Yeah Scott. Sorry to break it to you, but you weren't the first teen wolf to climb into a hunter's bed." Scott seemed to deflate a bit at that. No doubt to look back at everything that happened with that revelation to shine a new light. But Peter didn't have time to waste on nostalgia. "Okay, Derek went back to the site of the house, thinking it was still there, right?"

"Yeah," Scott mumbled. "But he doesn't remember the fire."

"But if he doesn't remember the fire then he doesn't remember that it was Kate that set it."

"So what does that mean?" asked Malia.

"Kate didn't just take him back to being a teenager. She took him back to the age where he still knew her. When he still trusted her." He let a heated breath out of his nose. "Where is Derek now?"

"He's with Stiles," said Scott. "They're at my house and he'll make sure nothing else happens to him."

* * *

After McCall told Derek what he wanted to know, Stiles could already hear Derek's heart rate was starting to climb. He quickly made an excuse and pulled Derek up from the table and they headed for Scott's room. The moment they were inside, Derek quickly and angrily pushed Stiles up against the wall.

"You lied to me!" Derek spat. Anger was leaking out of him as he increased the pressure on Stiles and let his claws appear and graze the back of his neck.

Stiles quickly felt a strong sense of dejavu. This was exactly what Derek had done in this room one year ago, but to Scott. "Okay, look I didn't lie. Technically. May have omitted certain truths. Vital truths now that I think about it and I'm sorry but," Stiles quickly threw himself back, surprising Derek with the force, and making them tumble to the floor.

The two of them started to roll around as they each tried to pin down the other. Derek's eyes shined blue as he sent a hard kick which hit Stiles and made him slide back and hit Scott's dresser and made some thing on the top of it topple and fall. Derek then got up and looked prepared to run out but Stiles quickly pounced and grabbed at Derek's legs, making him fall forward and hit his face. Stiles then pulled himself over him as Derek turned around and tried to push him off. Stiles caught Derek's right wrist and forced it down while he grabbed Derek's throat with his other hand. Stiles ended up kicking at Scott's chair and made it fly and slam against the wall. Derek let a growl escape him.

"Hey, what was that?!" Scott's father called out from downstairs.

"My cousin just tripped on the rug and cried out as he fell. He tends to not watch himself as much as we'd all like him to!" Stiles quickly called out to him as he held Derek down.

"He fell?" McCall called out a bit softer. "With all the noise out there it sounds like animals had gotten into the house."

Derek kept trying to push up against Stiles' grip as he yelled down to Agent McCall but Stiles went and put more strength behind him and slammed the back of Derek's head to hit the floor. "Nah, he's just that ungraceful!" he yelled out as flashed his blue eyes and fangs at Derek's face. He then lowered his voice to a low pitch growl. "Stop it Derek. Calm down right now or I'll be forced to do something I'll really be sorry for," he said as planted his knee to hold down Derek's arm and grabbed him by the scruffs of his shirt and held him fully down. "Now cool it."

Derek took deep winded breaths as he glared at Stiles but after a second he closed his eyes and started to slow his breathing. A few moments later, his breathing settled and he opened his eyes to reveal they were normal again. "Okay. I'm okay."

"I'm going to let go now," Stiles said sternly.

Stiles loosened his grip and stood up over Derek who moved to slowly pick himself back up. Stiles tried to offer his hand to help him up but Derek slapped it away as he got to his feet. He may have calmed but his eyes were still narrowed. "You didn't have to do that. I wouldn't have hurt you." Stiles gave him a look at that. "Too much," he admitted as an afterthought.

Stiles rolled his eyes. "Oh thanks."

But Derek sucked on his teeth. "I'm done talking to you. I want to talk to your Alpha. I want to talk to Scott, right now," he demanded.

"Alright fine," Stiles angrily re-adjusted his shirt. "Just keep calm and keep quiet. His father doesn't know and I'm sure that your questions at dinner and your little fit didn't help. So while I call Scott you just sit and wait there." Stiles then pointed to the bed like a parent telling a child to sit down. "Now." Derek let a heated puff of air from his nose but moved to throw himself down on the bed with an aggravated look on his face. "Good boy."

Stiles then nodded and he began to leave the room while Derek angrily rolled his eyes.

"How does Scott put up with him?" Derek mumbled.

Stiles then stepped and peered his head into the room. "Actually, it's me who puts up with him," he said in a joking smile before he disappeared again.

Derek took a moment to shake his head. It was mind boggling how Stiles could be so forcefully savage one moment and then a joking idiot the next. But his wonder quickly was replaced by a tragic pang in his heart. They had lied to him about his family. They were dead and have been for a long time, according to Mr. McCall. The bathroom door then swung open and Derek looked up as he saw that someone was here. He then quickly stood up as his eyes widened when he realized who it was.

"Kate?"

She smiled at him as she leaned slightly against the door frame. "Hey handsome. Been a long time." She then moved over to him. "Longer than you think."

Stiles quickly called Scott and told him that Derek now knew about the fire because his father opened his big mouth.

" _Is he okay?_ " Scott asked him.

"After finding out that his whole family burned alive?" Stiles huffed. "He started to freak a bit but I got him to settle down."

" _He didn't leave, did he?_ "

Stiles started to move for Scott's room. "No. He's in in your bedroom, he'll be totally fine. To be honest, I'm starting to miss the old Derek. But do you think that Kate would come here for him-" He stopped when he got to the entrance. At the window, he saw Kate, living and breathing. They caught each other's eyes and the following second seemed to drag on forever. She then sneered at him before she hopped back, out the landing and out of sight. "Oh man," he breathed. "She has him."

" _What?! She has Derek?!_ "

Stiles ran off to the window and could barely make out the shape of Kate running off. "I saw her. She was just here and Derek's gone. He left with her."

" _Uh, can you catch her scent?_ " Scott asked desperately.

Stiles sniffed around. He tried to pick through the different scents that were around. After about half a minute, he nodded. "Yeah. I got it now Scott. I'll try and track her down."

" _Call when you're getting close._ "

Stiles quickly started to come down the stairs but stopped when he saw Agent McCall waiting at the foot of them.

"Everything alright?" he asked as he noticed that Stiles looked stressed.

Stiles tried to play it cool. "Oh, yeah. Scott just called and asked for me to pick him up."

He then looked up towards the second floor landing. "Where's your cousin?"

"Hmm? Oh, Miguel, right…he's waiting outside."

"Really? I didn't notice him come down," he said lightly as he kept his eyes up to the top of the stairs.

"You didn't? Huh...that's weird," Stiles laughed out. "Maybe you're tired. Eggrolls can sometimes do that to me too. Well, I, we," he quickly corrected himself. "Better get going."

Stiles then moved to leave out the door as Raphael watched him leave. He calmly moved over to the window facing the driveway to see that Stiles was already pulling his jeep out. His window was open and he saw Stiles had his head somewhat out as he got to the street. He couldn't make out anyone else in the car though as Stiles went and drove off. He started to go up the stairs and headed right for his son's room. He saw that the room was empty. Miguel didn't seem to be here so he guessed that he really might've just slipped out without him noticing. There didn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary in here that he could see, well other than the fact that the window was left open. Raphael went to close it when his eyes narrowed before he could. On the window sill, there were marks. If he didn't know better, he would swear that they looked like scratch marks.

* * *

At the end of Stiles' call, Peter and Malia began to move for the loft's door but Scott didn't move a muscle.

"Wait!" he called out to them.

"For what?" Peter spat back at him. "Kate is out there, twisting her way into Derek's head, yet again. We need to find her before she can do any more damage to him."

"We can find them. Stiles said that he picked up her scent," Malia told them. "They won't get far."

"Yeah but remember, Stiles is still a little shaky with some of his senses after getting his powers back. It'll take him bit more time than usual and Kate already has a head start. When we do finally track her down, who knows what she'll have done to Derek by then. We need to find out where she's going and why. Get ahead of her."

Peter rolled his eyes. "Uh, not to underestimate my own cognitive faculties but, we're not exactly brain trusted geniuses here." He looked over at Malia, who had spent eight years living in the woods as a coyote, and then at Scott, who wasn't exactly Sherlock Holmes.

Scott sighed. "Then maybe we should call one."

* * *

Cora Hale's gaze was at the window to the side where she could dimly make out some trees in the dim moonlight. One of her hands was on the very noticeable bump at her stomach while the other was rubbing at the side of her head. The door swung open and a young woman, a couple of years older than Cora, came in with a steamy mug.

"Here you go. green tea with a dash of ginger. The best friend for any pregnant woman."

"Thanks Maggie," Cora muttered as she took the mug and then slowly took a sip. She then went and sat down. "I don't know what's happening. I never have gotten headaches this bad before in these last few months."

"Well, you're due in a few weeks. There are bound to be some surprises here and there. Not to mention that the full moon is a week away."

"Don't remind me," Cora muttered out.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you. Someone called earlier today. Your uncle Peter."

Cora sighed. "Well, it's a good thing I missed his call then. He didn't leave a message, did he?"

"I hung up before he could get more than three words in." Maggie shook her head. "I still don't know why your brother keeps him around. If I were there, I would've put him back in the hole he crawled out of, but in pieces so he couldn't ever crawl back out again."

That made a laughing smirk crawl onto Cora's lips. "I could see why you and my sister became friends."

When they found that Cora was pregnant, Derek had taken her over to upstate New York, to the place that he and Laura had settled in after they left Beacon Hills. It was a small community up in the mountains that was relatively peaceful. There was already another pack here but they had taken the Hales in. Cora was also sure that the fact that the Alpha was sweet on her sister had helped in making that call. Maggie told her that they never actually dated but he had been persistent. Maggie was the pack's emissary and had gotten quite close with Laura while they had stayed there. She agreed to watch over Cora for Derek.

Maggie looked her over. "You seem to be feeling better already."

"Your tea is amazing. Must be your druid touch."

She smiled. "I do what I can. Just try not to overexert yourself for the next few days. At least until the full moon passes. Your little one in there seems to burn through quite a lot of steam, even for a werewolf like you."

Cora rolled her eyes playfully. "Well, if you knew the father, you would understand perfectly." Stiles' boundless energy and his ferocity came a little fondly to mind.

"You still haven't told, eh-"

"Stiles."

"Is that really his name?"

Cora shrugged. "Apparently, his real name is hard to pronounce so he goes by that."

Maggie nodded but her face softened. "Why don't you tell him? You afraid he won't like being a teenage father? You know that it's not just his life but your own too involved in this."

"No, that's not it." Cora narrowed her eyes a bit as her fingers played with the mug in her hands. "I was able to just up and leave home, twice, because there was nothing for me there. Nothing but bad memories and people I would rather never see again. But, Stiles isn't like me. Even though bad things happened to him there, he still calls Beacon Hills home and wants to protect it. I don't want to get in the way of that." She then went to sit at the edge of the bed in her room.

Maggie's face softened as she went and sat next to her before pulling her close so that Cora's head rested on her shoulder. They then spent a good amount of time just staring out the window into the night sky.

* * *

Lydia and Kira hadn't left the gas station since they had gotten there. They carefully stepped around the body to make sure they didn't touch it or step on any of the blood spots on the floor.

"I called Stilinski. They're on their way," Lydia told Scott on the phone.

" _What does it look like? Can you send pictures?_ " Scott asked her.

Lydia shared a look with Kira as she went to switch to her camera. "Okay. But, to be honest, I have a 4.0 in AP Biology and there are parts of the human anatomy that I've never seen before on these walls."

She then took photos of the blood splattered walls and of the body. As soon Lydia took as many photos as she thought they would need, she and Kira quickly stepped outside and took deep breaths as they tried to calm themselves down.

Back at the loft, Scott received the photos and Scott's eyes widened when he saw the picture of the guy's head, or what was left of it.

"It was definitely Kate," Scott said with a nod. "Wolves would go for the throat. Stiles told me that jaguars attack their prey by biting through their skulls."

"Lovely," Malia muttered as she stared at the picture with narrowed eyes. "But, why would Kate kill a gas station attendant?"

Peter shook his head. "I don't think she could help it. This was done in a frenzy. It's not a murder. It's a symptom."

"Of what?" asked Scott.

"She can't control the shift," Peter told him.

"Derek said he had the same problem on a full moon. That he's still learning."

"So, Kate's still learning?" Malia asked.

"She wants to learn," Peter told them.

But then the phone rang again and Scott saw that it was Stiles. He put it on speaker. "Stiles, what, did you find Kate?"

Stiles was in his jeep, pulled over by the curb with his window open. His eyes were focused " _Uh no, not yet. I'm still trying to follow her scent. It's still a little hard for me to get the hang of this again. But Scott, from the direction that it's leading me, I think I know where she might be heading but I don't know why she'd be going there._ "

"The high school," said Peter.

" _Yeah, wait how did you know?_ " Stiles asked.

Scott and Malia looked over at him, the same question clear on their faces.

"Kate, I know why she did this to Derek now."

"Why?" asked Scott.

"She wants the triskelion."

* * *

Kate and Derek were walking through the empty school grounds for the courtyard steps when Derek suddenly just stopped.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Kate asked him.

"I don't know about this," he said hesitantly. "I'm not supposed to show the vault to anyone else but my family." His mother had drilled in that rule since he first learned of it. It was practically sacred law.

Kate rolled her eyes and gently hooked her arm around his as she pulled him away. "Come on, we talked about this."

But Derek stopped again and pulled away from her. "Yeah, but how do you know?"

"Because you told me, remember?" she asked with a flirtatious smile.

Derek just dropped his gaze and shook his head. "No," he breathed. He couldn't remember anything. He was told that his family died years ago but to him it felt like barely a month when he had sneaked off during the full moon to try and get to the Finals basketball game.

Kate then moved and placed her palm against his cheek. "Oh, well, tell me if you remember this."

She then moved in and gave Derek a heated kiss, like they usually shared. He started to feel the familiar buzz returning. Derek momentarily forgot about all his pain, all of his anger towards everyone else and let himself escape in the heat of Kate's lips. He broke away quickly and Kate moved her lips to his ear.

"We get inside the vault, we get the triskelion and everything goes back to normal," she told him.

"That's all you want?" Derek asked her.

She shook her head. "That's all we need. But right now, we have to get inside that vault."

Derek slowly nodded. Getting back to normal is what he needed. Maybe the vault could help him find out what happened to him and to his family. He then moved off and led her to the school sign passed the courtyard.

"Over here,' he told her as he ran to it when it was in sight.

"Why would your family build the vault under a high school?"

"The vault was here first."

Derek then brought out his claws and moved them to what appeared to be a decorative hole in the stone. As soon as his claws went in, it glowed. Derek then turned it like a combination dial and it sunk in. The sign then swung around and revealed a hole underneath with a staircase. Kate then smiled and walked on in first. Derek followed after her and they came into the sight of the Hale Family Vault. Derek went over to the shelves at the side but Kate kept walking forward when she noticed what seemed to be a safe engraved with the same symbol as the vault.

* * *

Raphael was still examining the marks on the windowsill when he heard his phone ringing. He pulled his head inside and reached for his pocket.

"This is McCall," he said as he picked up.

" _Haigh here. You asked me to call you if anything odd turned up with Stilinski._ "

With him hitting an impasse in his investigation, he decided to hire Haigh as an informant. "Yeah."

" _Well, we got a call from Lydia Martin and Kira Yukimura a half hour ago. They called in a dead body in the restroom of the gas station on Bleeker. The station's attendant._ "

"A murder?"

" _No, it looks like an animal attack. The body was torn up. Claw and bite marks on the body like the guy was mauled._ "

' ** _Another animal attack? And at a gas station?_** ' Raphael thought. He had noticed that in the past year, there have been more animal attacks in the town limits in Beacon Hills then there have been in the actual woods in the last few years. "What does this have to do with Stilinski?"

" _The girls, they claimed that they only just stumbled on it but before they left, they pulled Stilinski aside. I couldn't tell what they were saying but it looked tense. And he let them go almost immediately after they were talked to. It looks like they knew more than what they were saying about the body and the Sheriff might know what it is but is trying to keep it quiet_."

"Alright, let's not jump to conclusions Haigh. Those two are friends with his son and Stilinski has a soft spot for those kids. He might have just been trying to comfort them."

" _Like with that other boy today?_ "

"What boy?"

" _Parrish and I found a teenage boy trespassing around the site of the Hale House. I was forced to taser him and brought him to the station. Stilinski let him go after his son and yours came to the station for him._ "

Raphael tensed up. "What was the boy's name?"

" _No idea. He was dark haired and had on jeans and a green shirt. I tried to run his prints but only got one match that didn't make sense._ "

The boy's description was all too familiar. "What match? Whose prints were they?"

" _Derek Hale._ "

Raphael then hung up. That boy had asked about the Hale Fire and Stiles had been acting strange, well stranger than usual. The new death, the kids' secret trip to Mexico and now this new boy...something else was happening in this town. And it seemed that the Hales might be at the center of it.

* * *

Scott, Peter and Malia got to the school in a hurry but Malia suddenly just stopped. Scott noticed and stopped him and Peter.

"Did you catch a scent?" he asked.

Malia looked up to face him. "It's the same one. The same one as Mexico."

"What is she talking about?" asked Peter.

"One of them came after us in the church ruins," said Scott.

Malia nodded as she stepped closer to them. "And one on the road. It couldn't have followed us here."

"They could've been brought, by Kate."

Just then there was a snarling sound that echoed in the air. It made them all stiffen up.

Peter especially as he shrunk a bit. "Oh, I've heard that sound before. Did it have an animal skull? A human wearing an animal skull on its face?"

Malia hadn't gotten a good look back on the road as it was dark but it could've been that. "I think so."

"What are they?" Scott quickly asked.

But Peter didn't answer him. He just looked out as he heard the sound of footsteps. Moving towards them was a large man wearing a suit made of bones and had a skull of an animal over his face. A hard and deep snarl escaped him as he breathed.

"Berserkers." Scott and Malia moved to look upon the Berserker and saw that it looked even scarier in the light then it did in the dark. Malia was ready to begin fighting but Peter pulled her back. "What? Are you crazy?"

"It's just one of them," Malia argued.

"Yeah, that means we have a chance," said Peter.

"To beat him?" Malia asked him eagerly.

"To survive," he said before he made a break for it.

The two of them watched Peter run off before they looked back at the Berserker who was starting to move closer for them. They looked at each other before they also made a run for it. As they did, the Berserker started to speed up and go after them. The two of them didn't stop to look back as they kept running, but they could hear it still giving chase. However, they stopped in their tracks when they came across another Berserker that was waiting for them. They tried to back off but Malia's eyes widened when she saw the other Berserker.

"Scott," she cried to him. "It's both of them. They're both here."

"Where the hell is Peter?" he cried.

"I don't know. He just took off," she said to him quickly as they back up into a flight of stairs. "Where's Stiles? Shouldn't he have been here by now?"

"Run," Scott cried.

They tried to get to the floor above them but another Berserker went and came out of nowhere to cut them off.

* * *

Stiles pulled up to the back of the school and found that Kate's scent was indeed coming from here. It seemed that Peter was right though Stiles thought that was a first time for everything. He got out of his jeep but before he could head on in, he heard the sound of a familiar car engine incoming and waited until he saw the headlights of Lydia's car. She went and pulled up next to Stiles' jeep and she and Kira got on out.

"They're here?" Kira asked as she held her sheathed sword firmly in her hand.

Stiles nodded. "Yeah. I'm already picking up both Kate and Derek's scent. Peter said that Kate would've taken him to the Hale Vault underneath the school."

Lydia shook her head. "Who would have a vault full of supernatural stuff underneath the high school?" she asked breathlessly.

"Apparently them," Stiles sighed. He then went to the back of his jeep and pulled out his bat. "Come on."

They then took off in a fast paced walk with Stiles in the lead.

"Do you know where to go?" Lydia asked them.

He nodded. "Yeah. He said the entrance was at the school sign by-" But Stiles just stopped when they entered the courtyard. "Wait," he told them.

"What? What's wrong?" asked Kira.

Stiles was suddenly picking up another scent. A foul one. One that reeked of death. They then heard a deep growling noise that didn't belong to any wolf.

"What was that?" Lydia asked.

"Up there," Kira pointed off.

They then saw Scott and Malia up on the outside staircase as they were being boxed in by some kind of giants.

"Scott! Malia!" Stiles cried out to them.

They started to run to get to them but stopped when they saw that one of those things was slowly walking towards them. Their eyes widened at the sight of a giant man wearing shreds of animal skin underneath bones styled like some kind of creepy armor. On it's face was an animal skull and it let out a deep snarl as it made deep thumping noises with each stomping step it took. It was cutting off the fastest way to get to their friends.

Kira quickly unsheathed her sword and spun it before she pointed it for the thing. "We have to get passed it. They need our help up there."

Stiles took a look around and saw that the staircase on the opposite side of the courtyard was clear. "No, they need your help," Stiles told her. He then pointed his head toward the stairs and Kira's face widened. "Go around and help them. We'll handle this one."

"You sure?" she asked.

"Go," he firmly said to her.

Kira gave them one last nervous look before she finally nodded and took off for the stairs. The Berserker gave her a slight notice before it turned its head to keep its gaze on Stiles and Lydia.

"Uh Stiles, exactly how are we supposed to handle this one?" Lydia asked as her face paled at the sight of the creature in front of them, staring them down.

Stiles went and held up the bat. "You better take this."

Lydia sighed at the sight of it. "You seriously need to find something better than a baseball bat."

Stiles just looked over at her tirelessly as he went and tossed the bat lightly in the air for her to catch. Stiles then thrust his hands down and brought out his claws. He then brought his head up to show that he was completely shifted. He let a low threatening growl escape through his fanged teeth before he charged for the Berserker. He readied his claws to hit it at its head but it moved one of its hands to catch him. The Berserker then went and squeezed its grip on Stiles' hand causing a pained growl to escape him. Stiles then moved his free hand and tried to slam it down on its arm. He hit it just below its wrist three quick times before it finally let Stiles go. Stiles stumbled back as flexed the fingers of his hurt hand. His blue eyes glared at the Berserker as it towered over him. Lydia just stood off to the side with a terrified look on her face.

* * *

Derek was looking through the contents on the shelves and noticed that some of the jars of herbs and powders they had layers of dust on them. One of them had even broken and spilled. He moved through everything before he found the box that he was searching for. He then turned around and saw that Kate was in front of the safe.

"No, not that," he said as he brought the box over.

He then opened the box to reveal a metallic disc that had a triskelion engraved on it.

"This is it?" she asked as she picked it up. "You're sure?"

"Yeah," Derek nodded.

She started to turn it over in her hand. "It doesn't look like much."

"That's because it isn't." Kate and Derek looked over to the entrance to find Peter was slowly walking down the steps. "Quite the elaborate scheme you had here Kate. Two countries, an Aztec temple, Derek returned to a teenager. One that trusted you. One that loves you. All this complication just to gain access to our vault just to get your hands on a little piece of junk," he said smirking at her. "Go ahead, turn it over. There's a scrape on the back where it used to say Made in China."

Kate glared at him. "You're lying."

"I admit, I have a tendency to exaggerate things but, in this case, the truth is a lot more fun. Sorry sweetheart, that little pendant is just a physical object to focus on. It's training wheels." He saw Kate look down to see give the pendant a good hard look. "Talia used it to teach Laura and tried to use it to teach Derek."

But he was cut off when a roar echoed its way into the vault. Derek was getting ready to move out of the vault but he was grabbed by Kate and pulled back.

"Tell me if this is real," she said roughly to him as she held the disc to his face.

But Derek pulled back from her. "Didn't you hear that? That was Scott. I just heard Scott."

"Tell me!" she roared at him.

"I don't know and I don't care!" That was all he said before he pulled out of her grasp and ran out.

That left Kate alone with Peter.

She held the disc out to him. "So this is nothing more than a glorified paperweight?" she spat at him.

Peter's smirk grew wider. "Afraid so. See, Derek gave up on it back when he learned another way to control the shift. When I taught him to use emotion. To use anger and to focus on it. To feel every ounce of rage and hatred that he could summon and it was the anger that taught him control." His tone then turned mocking. "So, you want to learn to control it? Want to get angry Kate? Let's get angry!"

He roared at her which she responded with her own. The both of them were eager to rip each other apart and settle old scores. But before either could even make a move, two canisters rolled down the stairs and into the room before they exploded and emitted gas.

* * *

Scott roared as he leapt up tried to strike at the Berserker above them. His attack hardly fazed it so Scott kept swiping at it with his claws but it stayed unmoved and virtually unaffected. It snarled before it moved to grab Scott by his head and moved to slam it into the nearby wall. He was then pushed against the wall as the Berserker snarled practically in his ear. The other Berserker below them was climbing for them and Malia jumped and swiped at it, which only served to annoy it. It quickly sent a hard blow at her. It then swiped and caught Malia by the leg with one of its bony claws. Scott quickly smelled the fresh blood and tried to get free but he stayed pushed against the wall. The Berserker's grip on him was just too strong for him to break free of.

Stiles ducked from one of his Berserker's swipes. It's first blow missed but the Berserker quickly slammed it's other hand down on Stiles' back and made him drop face first to the ground. Stiles grit his teeth as he moved to be on his back, the pain keeping his eyes shut tight as he tried to bear through it.

"Stiles!" Lydia cried out.

Stiles' eyes flew open as he saw that the Berserker was raising its giant foot over the space above his head. Stiles quickly rolled over and avoided having his head squashed like a melon. Stiles' nose sniffled when he detected the scent of a familiar coyote's blood.

"Malia," he coughed out as he moved to try to get to his feet.

The Berserker moved over to attack him again but Stiles yelled and threw himself to tackle it. He managed to strike at its middle and the impact actually made two pieces of bone break and tumble to the ground. The giant faltered back a few steps but stayed flat on its feet. It then turned its head to look down at its cracked armor before it raised its skull covered head and let an angry animalistic snarl sound through the air. Stiles actually took a step back from the recoil of it.

Lydia looked at the bat in her hand and she frighteningly shook her head at it. Stiles barely managed to scratch it and needed help and she doubted a bat would do much. She looked around before she turned to look back at the parking lot. "Stiles, I have an idea. Can you make it follow you?"

Stiles shook his head as he kept his blue eyes on the thing. "What? Why?" he sputtered back at her.

"The parking lot. Can you lure it there?" she asked desperately as she started to back away.

Stiles looked from her back to the Berserker. It was still looking at him and snarling. It started to stomp its way over to him. "Uh, yeah, I think so." Lydia then took off in a run. "Lydia!"

Stiles then started to back away as the Berserker started stomping after him.

Above them, Malia was trying to crawl away as best as she could with a pierced leg as the Berserker stomped for her like a lion stalking a wounded gazelle. The Berserker with Scott finally pulled him away from the wall and hurled him into the air where he landed close by her. Now the two of them were crawling back from the Berserkers stalking after them. That was until Kira came running in with her sword. She had ran up the stairs on the opposite side of the courtyard and ran all the way around to finally reach them. She swung at them both, making them fall back a bit. She kept swinging but was barely making a scratch. She turned to look back at her friends but that was a mistake.

"Kira!" Scott cried as he saw a Berserker begin to swipe down in her distraction.

The one nearest to her swatted at her sword and made her lose her grip on it. Once it disarmed her, it then hit her with a blow so hard that she flew off her feet and landed on the ground beside him. Scott scooted himself closer to see that she wasn't hurt too badly. But now the three of them were on the ground, at the mercy of the Berserkers. The two were lightly snarling at them but turned back when they heard the sound of approaching footsteps. It was Derek and he quickly moved to fight against them both himself. They tried to swipe at him with their claws and sharpened bones but Derek ducked and avoided each of their blows with his now nimble stature.

Lydia got to her car and quickly started it up and then pulled it in reverse. She was breathing a little fast and she tightened her hold on the steering wheel when she saw Stiles coming into view. She then honked the horn to try and get his attention. Stiles chanced a look back and saw Lydia's car revving up. Now he understood her plan. He moved a bit into the pavement before he stopped moving. The Berserker was still following after him. After it stepped on the pavement, Lydia put the car in drive and hit the gas. Stiles could hear the screech of the tires and readied himself. The Berserker kept stomping for him and when he thought it was time, he made a hard jump to his left. Barely a second after he did, Lydia's car went and slammed into the creature, sending it flying off a couple of feet away.

Lydia then got out of the car and walked over to him. "So much better than a bat," she said tossing it for him catch.

They looked down at the fallen Berserker as it lay on its back from the hit. It stayed motionless on the ground for a moment before it started to twitch and slowly began to pick itself up.

"Not that much," Stiles said as he grabbed Lydia to put her behind him.

It straightened itself up to be as tall as it could be and brought its arms out as it let a hard roar at them.

Derek was forced back as the Berserkers started to bear on him more aggressively. He was thrust down and the others managed to see a ghost of his older self in his face. It lasted for a moment before it faded and he resumed his assault on them.

* * *

The gas made Peter fall to his knees and begin heavily coughing. He could barely move or see in the smoke but he could make out a shape moving into the vault and seemed to be going for the safe. They went in, opened it, and then took out what seemed to be a leather case.

"Wait!" Peter coughed out as this person took it.

Kate managed to stay on her feet as she grasped the wall to try and keep herself upright. She didn't know who her attacker was but she knew it couldn't be any of those kids. She wasn't up for any more surprises tonight so she just moved to hightail out of there. She made her way to the stairs and got out of the vault. She started to cough out the smoke now that she was out in the fresh air. Her senses were slowly returning back to normal and she could already hear and sense the presence of her Berserkers. They were still fighting the pack but she had to leave before whoever came to the vault decided to turn more of their attention on her. She let out a hard howl out into the air.

* * *

Derek was still fighting the two Berserkers and Stiles was shielding Lydia from the one at the lot when the howl was heard by everyone. The Berserkers stopped in their tracks and looked up into the sky as it rang out. They all then took off at a run, to re-join the werejaguar. Scott, Malia, Kira, Stiles and Lydia all watched them run off with surprised looks on their faces.

"What's happening?" Lydia asked Stiles.

Stiles stared off at the disappearing shape of the Berserker running into the darkness. "Kate. They're…going back to her?" he said, not sure if he believed it himself.

Lydia shook her head before she tensed. "What about the others?"

"Come on."

They then ran off to try and get back to the others.

Derek was standing there, looking off in the direction that the Berserkers ran off to. Scott and the others were watching him, not moving a muscle. Scott's eyes then narrowed as he forced himself to his feet. For some reason, Derek suddenly seemed taller and bigger than he was a moment ago.

"Derek?" he asked. Could it be?

Derek then slowly turned around to face them and revealed that he had returned to his proper age. He wasn't a teenager anymore. But as he looked upon them, he revealed that his eyes were now golden yellow.

From the bottom of the courtyard, Stiles and Lydia could make them all out. They could see that Scott, Malia and Kira were all safe and they saw that Derek was back to normal too.

"Yes," Stiles breathed out with a relieved smile on his face. But it only lasted for a moment. "Wait, where's Peter?"

"The vault," Lydia said to him.

* * *

Peter crawled up to the emptied vault and looked inside to see that they had taken what he feared had been taken the most. He kept staring at it and barely reacted to Stiles and Lydia running on inside.

"It…it never…it was never about the triskelion," he muttered. "They…they took it. They took it while I was blinded."

"Took what?" Lydia asked him.

He looked over at them. "Bearer bonds and they took them all."

Stiles was taken aback. That so wasn't what he was expecting. "Bearer bonds? Wait, are you saying you got robbed?" Stiles almost laughed. After everything that happened tonight, someone ended up stealing money from Peter? Normally, he would find things like this serious and interesting but the fact that it happened to Peter, he couldn't help but also find it kind of amusing.

"This was a heist," he bit out at him. "Somebody planned this."

Lydia narrowed her eyes. "How much did they take?"

Peter exhaled. "117."

"Thousand?" asked Stiles.

Peter turned around and looked back at the looted safe. "Million."


	5. Muted

Chapter 5: Muted

The lights of the Hale House were on which made it stick out in the dark surroundings of the woods. It was a beautiful sight to behold to any onlooker who came upon it. But was inside at the moment was anything but pretty. A hard smack sounded through the first floor from the living room. Derek Hale was holding his cheek from where his mother had just given him a hard, powered slap. Peter Hale was standing off to the side watching the exchange with a blank look on his face.

"What the hell were you thinking?" she spat at him.

"Mom, it was the finals. The team needed me." he tried to explain.

But Talia rose a finger to silence him. "No. The right answer was that you weren't thinking Derek. Going out on a full moon when you know you haven't mastered control yet. You know better than that. Tonight, you were supposed to stay here."

"Nothing happened," he tried to say in his defense with a small voice. "I had it under control mom."

But that only earned him another slap across the face. Out of sight, around the corner Laura Hale was leaning against the wall, quietly listening to what was going on. She then saw that her little sister Cora was trying to sneak about at the foot of the stairs. Laura silently shoed her sister away and Cora gave her a face before moving off.

Talia straightened herself up and folded her arms. "Really? Because your uncle called me in the middle of your game and told me that he found you huddled and fighting for control in the locker room." Derek gave his uncle a glare though it didn't faze Peter at all.

"I just had trouble for a minute. That's all," he tried to tone it like it sounded worse than it was.

But his mother wasn't having it. "What if it wasn't Peter but someone else that had stumbled on you during that minute? Your coach or one of your teammates. Do you not realize that you could've hurt or even killed someone tonight? Do you even care Derek?!" she pointedly spat out.

"But mom-" Derek started.

But she cut him off. "Yes or no Derek?"

Derek sighed as he stared down at his feet. "Yes mom."

"You were beyond selfish Derek." Talia was now glaring at him. "You didn't just put yourself at risk. You put your family, our pack all at risk, for a basketball game. You know, I would've thought that what happened a couple of weeks ago would've had more impact than this," she said to him sternly. That made Derek's head jerk like she had just slapped him again. "Obviously not. Well, I hope you thought the game tonight was worth it because its going to be your last one."

Derek's head right up. "What?" he asked fearfully.

"Next year, you won't be re-joining the team."

His eyes widened. "But mom, you can't."

"I can!" she roared at him as she flashed her red eyes at him. "And I just did! Now go to your room Derek. I don't want to hear another word from you for the rest of the night."

"I hate this family," Derek angrily grit his teeth and then ran off for the stairs. A moment later, they all heard a hard slam from Derek's door. Laura looked up in the direction her brother went before she looked down when she heard her mother and uncle start talking.

"That went well," Peter mused. "I'm sure that taking him away from the team got through to him."

Talia sighed at her brother's sarcasm. "I had to do something drastic to get finally through to him. His immaturity and naivety could've gotten others and himself hurt, or worse. Again. I understand that he just wants to be a normal teenager and do and care about normal things but, for ones like us, sometimes that just isn't in the cards." She then went to stressfully run a hand across her face. "Was there anyone that might've seen Derek in his shift?" she asked him sternly.

"No, I don't think so. But, I did find another problem."

"What?"

"The Argents. Well, one of them, in the crowd with some men, watching the game. Or rather watching Derek."

"Which Argent?" she asked.

"Chris. He was stalking him and I think he noticed me in the crowd."

Talia nodded. "So, they are watching us."

"Do you think they know about the others?"

"I hope not. Just knowing about our family alone is trouble but I'll tell my betas and their families to be on alert. Now, more than ever, we _all_ have to be careful."

Laura bounced off from her spot and headed off for her own room.

* * *

Over in a quiet corner of Beacon Hills, Sean Walcott was looking through his home for any sign of his pet cat Willow. When he didn't find it anywhere in the house, he thought that maybe she got out.

"Willow?' he cried out from his front porch. "Willow?" There was no sign of her anywhere. He then headed back into the house. "Mom, I can't find her," he called out. But he didn't hear an answer back. "Mom?" He guessed that she must've gone to sleep. "I'm going to bed!" he said as she shut the lights off. He made his way to his room through his quiet house. He was getting ready for bed when he noticed spots on his rug and they were leading under his bed. He slowly looked down but breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that it was his cat. "Hey you, what are you doing down there?"

Sean then went to get his lamp and shine the light down to get a look at her but dropped it when he saw his cat was covered in blood. Barely a second later, he heard screaming. He heard his mother, his father, his brother all start screaming and heard horrible noise mixing in with it. He then started to smell blood. Fresh blood. He went out of his room and a dark figure came out of his parent's room. He was holding a small hatchet that was already caked in blood. Sean quickly moved back in and closed the door a moment before the hatchet flew into the air and found its way through the door. He then quickly ran and locked himself in his bathroom before he started to quickly rummage through the drawers, to look for something, anything, to help him fight the attacker off. But he froze when he heard his bedroom door break open. He tried to calm his breathing when he heard the guy's footsteps start to sound and get closer. Then he saw the doorknob turning but the door didn't open as it was locked.

The attacker then started speaking. "Hello Sean. I just killed your family." His voice sounded off, like he was speaking through some kind of a mic. "Do you want to die like them, begging for your life? Or, do you want to fight? I'll give you some help. Wrap a towel around your fist and smash the mirror. Use on of the shards to defend yourself. Go ahead. I'm waiting."

Sean glared off at the mirror before he went to get a towel. He wrapped it around his hand and took a deep, heated breath as he glared at his reflection.

Outside the door, the attacker could hear the movement. "Are you ready Sean?" he asked again in that distorted voice. "Because here I come."

He then heard the sound of broken glass and he quickly kicked the door in, prepared to fight an armed teen but faced his own reflection in the mirror. The glass that was broken wasn't the mirror, it was the window. He looked out to find that Sean was outside, running for his life. He watched the boy go, the light revealing that he had no mouth. It seemed that he was going to have to work harder to get this mark.

* * *

Stiles was putting books away into his bag to get ready for the school day. He then went and grabbed his lacrosse stick. Stiles kept his eye on it for a moment before he started to move it into his bag. His back was turned to the door so he didn't see his father come in until he knocked on the door.

"Hey dad," Stiles said as he turned to face him. "Uh, anything yet?"

"No," Noah breathed out as he stepped in his son's room. "No sign of them. Though, I hardly think anyone will really call in a report of seeing a known dead woman being trailed by giants wearing animal skulls. What are they called again?"

"Berserkers."

"Right," his dad nodded. Something else to add to the growing list. "Stiles…do you think you'll be okay? With her out there I mean."

Stiles' face fell. "What do you mean by that?"

"It's just, do you think that Kate might decide to come after you? She already went after Derek and it was both him and you that gave that testimony that destroyed her reputation and outed her as both a pedophile and a mass murderer. That gives her a strong motive to come after you too."

Stiles sighed. "Dad, Kate went after Derek so she could get into the Hale Vault. She spent the last year hiding that she wasn't dead from her family of hunters and in hiding from another family of hunters that were hunting for her. I doubt she's spent any of her free time trying to catch up with the gossip of a small town even if it is Beacon Hills."

"Stiles, I'm serious," he said in a hard tone. Noah remembered the last time that an Argent got their hooks onto Stiles. Seeing his son come back home beaten was still too fresh in his memory. Not to mention the sight of Chris Argent holding a gun to his son's face, even if it wasn't truly his son at the time, froze his heart. "This is the woman who went and burned a whole family alive and made no one the wiser about it and she was just a normal human psychopath. Now she's a psychopath with fangs, claws and her own supernatural henchmen. She's never been more dangerous."

Stiles was still for a moment. He remembered the look that he had shared with Kate when she had taken Derek away. The expression on her face, he felt a shiver run down his spine. Stiles met his father's worried eyes. "Dad, I know. I know who and what she is and I remember everything she's done. I swear, I couldn't be thinking more seriously about when it comes to her," he said softly. "But I won't let her get away with hurting the people that I care about again."

His dad let a tired breath out but nodded. "Alright. But promise me that you and your friends won't hide anything you find when it comes to her."

"Dad," he started.

But Noah cut his son off. "Stiles, she killed a family, on my watch and got away with it for eight years. You're not the only one that doesn't want her to get away with what she's done."

Stiles could practically feel the strength in his father's words. He found himself nodding. "Okay."

Noah turned to leave when his eyes fell on the calendar hanging nearby. He saw that Stiles had a day circled and marked in a green marker. It was the day of the upcoming full moon. "Is there a special full moon coming up?" he asked pointing to the calendar.

Stiles settled himself down a bit. "Oh, not really. It's a Wolf Moon but I can't find nothing that says it will effect us too much."

"If that's the case why do you have it marked?"

Stiles stopped and looked him square in the eye. "Because that full moon happens to be mine and Scott's Turniversary."

"Uh, what?" He wondered if he heard Stiles right.

"Turniversary," he repeated. "It's the full moon where Scott and I first turned into werewolves exactly one year ago."

"And you're calling it a Turniversary?"

Stiles shrugged his shoulders. "I thought it sounded better than our Wolf Birthday."

"One whole year," Noah mumbled. Has it really been that long? He remembered when he got that call about joggers finding that body in the woods, or rather half of one. He never would've guessed that his son would've listened in and taken his friend out to go and look for it. Actually, no, that was a lie. He should've been ready for that to happen. But what he wouldn't have been ready for was everything that came from them venturing into the woods that night. "I know I've only been hip to all of this for a few months but it feels a lot longer with everything that's happened. One whole year must feel like-"

"Forever ago," Stiles cut in with a mumble. "We faced so much. The Alpha, the Argents, the Kanima, the Alpha Pack, Darach and the Nogitsune. Sometimes its hard for even us to believe."

His father rose his eyes at him. "And you two want to celebrate all that?"

"No. Well, I know that Scott wouldn't like it, but I feel like it should still mean something. I mean, yeah, it hasn't been all good in the last year, but, it hasn't been all bad either. In the last year, Scott got closer to Melissa. Heck, we got closer to Melissa too." Noah nodded at that. Stiles was right. He and Melissa had grown closer with everything that's happened with their sons. Him and Scott too. "And I'd like to think that we've gotten better too," Stiles said in a small voice.

Noah went to put his hands on his hips. "You mean like knowing when my son was going to be skipping the country with his pack to face off against psychopathic hunters and go exploring a haunted temple in the middle of the desert?" his dad asked pointedly.

"And you did…eventually. If you didn't know about any of this then you wouldn't have known about it at all, I'd call that progress," he said with a shrug. His dad narrowed his eyes at him. He still wasn't happy that he kept that from him, especially after he vouched for Stiles with Malia's father. Stiles moved to get back to his original point. "And Lydia went from not knowing us to one of our best friends. And then there's Kira. Malia."

Noah went to rub at the back of his head. "Yeah, speaking of Malia, I hope…you're being safe with her."

Stiles nodded. "Yeah, don't worry. When we go out for a run through the woods I make sure we're far from any of the trails so we won't run into anyone. It may calm and relax her but she's still having some control issues. We're using Lydia's lake house again to keep her contained for the full moon."

"Uh, not what I meant son. I mean…are you two, being safe? _Together_."

Stiles' eyes widened. "What, uh, why would you be asking that?"

"Stiles, I've heard you two…a couple of times," he said uncomfortably. "At first I thought a bunch of animals had gotten in, until I heard some human moans mixed in."

Almost instantly, Stiles' face went as red as an Alpha's eyes. "Oh." Looking back, he guessed that he and Malia weren't too concerned with being quiet during some of their nights.

"Now, I don't have any of wolfish instincts but I do have fatherly instincts and they're telling me I might have a reason to be worried."

Stiles sighed. "Dad, don't worry. Me and Malia are being safe. I swear."

"Okay," his dad nodded. "Just be careful."

"Always," Stiles gasped out.

* * *

Derek and Peter were sitting off in the loft across from Braeden who they had called to come see them. Derek was staring hard at the sunglasses that Braeden left on the table while she leaned back in her chair and went and rested her feet on the table.

Peter glared at that. "The table's Italian."

"So are these boots," she shot back at him which made Derek smirk slightly in amusement. "Now, are we going to talk interior design and fashion or are we going to talk numbers?"

Derek was focused on looking at his own reflection through the lens of the glasses so Peter went and wrote down an offer and handed it to her. Braeden gave it a look, took out her pen and crossed it out. She then went and put in a different offer and slid it over to Peter.

Peter's eyes narrowed at the price. "We're hiring you to find Kate, not assassinate the President."

"I was hired by the Calaveras to find Kate. You're hiring me to find her first. Going against the Calaveras is going to cost you."

"Funny, you were just hired by some kids that took you against them pretty close and personal and they didn't have to pay even a tenth of what you're asking," Peter slurred out.

Braeden folded her arms. "Stiles hired me and he's just a kid so he got a discount off the bat. He wanted me to help make sure that he and his friends got out in one piece and back them up when they tried to rescue Derek. The Calaveras didn't want any of them like they want Kate. Also, he wasn't making me have to deal with any of them alone and had the decency to pay me half at the start. With him, his decent reputation allowed for myself to bend a little. With you? You want me to bring in Kate and deal with her pets and the Calaveras all by myself and I know your reputation all too well. Don't expect the same."

Peter gave her a stink eye for a second before he took his pen and wrote another offer and slid it over to her. But Braeden went and slid it back without even looking at it. That made Peter just push himself up and walk off annoyed.

Derek had enough as he took the paper and just tore it up. "We'll pay," he told her. That made Peter turn and look at him like he had lost his mind but Derek ignored him. "Whatever you want. Just find Kate. That's all _we_ want."

Braeden gave him a slight once over. "Hmm…maybe I can bend a little for you too," she said with a small nod. Derek just stared at her with a blank expression on his face. Braeden then grabbed her things and headed out.

Peter went and shut the door hard after her before looking over at Derek with a glare. "Are you insane?!" he spat at him.

"We didn't have a choice," he calmly slurred out. "We spent a week looking for her and came up with nothing."

Peter's irritation was starting to grow. "If we don't find out who told Kate about the vault, we don't get those bonds back. What do you think I'm going to do then? Get a job? My resume is slightly out of date," he spat out sarcastically. Between being comatose for eight years and then dead, he didn't have anything to live off of. The bonds were his lifeblood. "We got robbed Derek. Robbed!" he said as he pulled on Derek's shoulder to make him face him. Derek quickly turned and roared at him, displaying his now golden eyes. Peter was taken aback. "Well, that's a new look for you." Derek quickly let him go. "What happened to your eyes?"

"I don't know. But I'm willing to pay to find out and find out fast. There's not much time left before I have to get back to Cora."

Peter eased off a bit. How could he have forgotten that. "She's in her final trimester. How is she doing? She doesn't answer my calls," Peter asked.

"You actually sound sorry about that," he muttered out before he settled himself. "Cora says that she's fine but one of Laura's friends is watching her and she tells me that Cora's not feeling morning sickness anymore though she's getting dizzy spells as the full moon gets closer."

"Reminds me of Talia when she had been carrying you and your sisters. Firm public fronts but bedridden in private. It won't be much longer now. Did you tell her about Kate still being alive? Or about what happened to you?"

Derek shook his head. "No. She doesn't need to know. Cora is safe where she is but if she finds out about any of this, you know she'll come charging on back here and we can't risk her or the baby. I don't think Kate knows that Cora survived the fire and we have to keep it that way," he growled out. He knew that she would love to get her slimy hands on that kind of leverage.

Peter nodded before he shrugged nonchalantly. "Then it's a good thing that your teenage self didn't know about her. Kate might've seduced it out of you like everything else."

Derek bit the inside of his cheek. "I know."

He hated to admit it but his uncle was right. This whole experience reminded him of how much of a foolish and selfish person he was back then. To betray his family secret vault to Kate with just her batting her eyes and kissing him. Just like he had betrayed his family to her that night in his senior year. He could still remember how he had enjoyed kissing Kate again. How comforting and blissful it made him and how it made him want more. Just thinking about it made Derek sick to his stomach. If anything, his anger towards himself was stronger than ever.

Peter then rose his eyebrows mischievously. "Did you at least inform Cora about the fact that the father of her child is now dating my newly discovered daughter, aka her newly discovered cousin?" Derek glared at him for a moment before he stalked off taking care to bump forcibly into Peter as he passed him. "As if our family wasn't dysfunctional enough," he sighed out.

* * *

Scott and Stiles were heading for the lacrosse field to try and make the morning practice before school. Anyone that wanted to be on the lacrosse team this season would be there so they had to go. Last season didn't exactly finish off well for either Scott or Stiles. Scott had actually made Co-Captain but had been benched due to his low grades. Stiles had made the team too but rarely played as he had been absent for quite a few games. To say that there reason to doubt their status for this season was an understatement.

"Well, of course you're still team captain. You got your grades up like Coach told you to, right?" Stiles asked Scott as they stepped onto the field.

"Yeah, but he never told me that I was back on the team. He just told me to show up at practice today. What about you? Did Coach ever tell you if you're still first line?"

Stiles waved it off. "He just told me to make sure that I make it to tryouts and to actually stay to the end this time. But Scott, don't we have other things to deal with? You know, like Kate. Malia and I spent the last few nights combing the woods together looking for her."

"Find anything?" asked Scott.

But Stiles gave his head a shake. "Not a trace of her or her bonehead squad. I called Derek and he's not having better luck either. She's in the wind."

Scott let a small huff out. "Looks like we might need Argent's help after all. He knows Kate better than we do and he should know that she's not dead."

Stiles stiffened. "If he didn't know already."

Stiles had thought that if the Calaveras had known that Kate was alive this whole time then perhaps Argent had found out too and just decided to not tell anyone.

"I don't think he does," Scott quickly argued. Seems Stiles' feelings against the Argents was still running strong. "Anyway, I texted him but he hasn't answered me back yet."

Stiles narrowed his eyes at him. "Wait, you, potentially, told him Kate was alive over a text?"

Scott just shrugged his shoulders. "I didn't have the money to call France."

Stiles sighed. "Yeah, you think you got money problems. Try paying for an MRI and a visit to Eichen House." Just one of the many other messes that Nogitsune left for Stiles to try and mull through.

"Another notice?" Scott asked.

"Yeah, and this one said final," he groaned out. "Scott, what are we even doing here? Don't we already have like 117 million problems? Worrying about our status on the lacrosse team is not one of them," he stressed out.

Scott shook his head but his eyes zeroed in on the field. "It is now."

They both looked and saw that there was someone in front of the goal and was having lacrosse balls chucked at him by two players. However, he was catching each and every one of them. Not a single one was getting through and he wasn't losing a single step.

"Who the hell is that?" Stiles asked. He didn't recognize that guy.

After the players ran through their balls, the goal keeper went and took off his helmet revealing that he was a younger kid, probably a freshman. He had a confident smile on his face as he looked over at his friends.

"Nice Liam," one of them, that they remembered was called Garrett, said to him. "You just might be our first ever freshman captain."

Scott and Stiles' eyes widened at that one as they saw other players nodding in agreement.

"Maybe we should practice a little bit," Stiles suggested and Scott nodded before they went off for the field.

* * *

At the hospital, Melissa was talking with a new doctor that was transferred there. They were talking about making cuts in the hospital which Melissa was trying to argue against.

"The nursing staff is already spread too thin," she pointed out.

"I know. There's never a good place to make cuts but this hospital has seen a bizarre amount of damage," he countered. "We have to cut back."

Melissa knew that was all too true. Between Deucalion's pack and that copy of Stiles attacks on the hospital much money had to be spent in making repairs and trying to find people to fill in positions that were vacated by either death of the employees or trauma.

"Maybe I pull some money from pediatrics?" she huffed out.

But he just smiled at her. "Your shift is over. I'm exhausted just looking at you. Please, go home and get some sleep."

She sighed. "Okay. I need to get some dinner first."

"Melissa, it's 7 am."

She guessed she really was tired. But she sobered up when a half naked kid stumbled into the hospital. His hands were caked with blood and he collapsed on the floor in front of them. Quickly, Melissa moved to call the Sheriff and tell him what happened. They checked the kid's identity and found that his name was Sean Walcott and got his address. When the police got there, they found the rest of his family, killed. Melissa was brought the bodies and Noah made sure that they were alone to talk in the morgue. Melissa checked the bodies and saw that they were cut apart.

"Now I know why he hasn't spoken a word to the psychologist yet."

"He's going to be in shock for a while, isn't he?" Noah asked her.

She nodded as she looked at the three body bags. "Was this his whole family?"

"Mother, father, older brother. Sean was the youngest and the only one that got away. Question is from what?"

That made Melissa look over at him. "You mean from who. These wounds weren't caused by claws and fangs. These are deep cuts. Combination of blunt force trauma."

"Yeah, that's what the M.E. said. Some kind of axe? I just need to make sure that we don't have to-"

"Involve the boys," she guessed. They knew that they would jump into this like it was their job to try and solve every murder and catastrophe that fell into their line of sight.

"Yeah. They're already preoccupied with Kate Argent being back, along with those giant creatures of hers. If this is just everyday homicide instead of the supernatural kind, maybe we could give them the day off from the world of murder and massacres. I know that Stiles is looking for some going into their…Turniversary tomorrow." He can't believe he actually said his son's silly name for it out loud. He saw Melissa's confused face. "It's the anniversary of him and Scott becoming werewolves."

"Turniversary, really?" That just made Noah roll his eyes. "Well, I'm all for giving our boys some time for themselves. I know Scott is looking for some quiet and normal time for a change. I just wish someone would do that for us too."

"Yeah," he muttered.

Melissa then went and zipped the body bag in front of her back up.

* * *

Noshiko was emptying a box when she felt Kira moving behind her. "Your father is waiting for you outside," she told her.

"I know, I know," Kira said before she sped off, out the door. She then came back in holding a sign with her father right behind her. "What is this?" she asked flashing it.

"A For Sale sign. It lets people know your house is for sale."

"I thought you were going to talk to her," her husband said delicately to her.

Kira turned to give her father a look before she turned back to face her mother, waiting for the explanation.

Noshiko then pulled out a pained smile. "Uh, Kira we told you that this was temporary."

"That was after you told me that I was a kitsune, was going to destroy a dark spirit by stabbing and killing one of the few friends I've made in this town," Kira said back to her.

"And you didn't have to. I call that a win," Noshiko said, trying to sound upbeat.

But Kira wasn't looking any better. "I'm not going back to New York."

"And why would we stay?"

"Because…" Kira was coming up blank and tried to fish for something. "Well, dad's a very important teacher at the high school," she said at last in her defense.

"In New York I was a professor at Columbia," he said shooting that down.

"You'll make new friends," Noshiko calmly said to Kira.

But Kira shook her head. "Not like these." They might not have been in her life for long but they've already been through so much together. She had a feeling that she wouldn't make friends that were ever like the ones she found here in Beacon Hills. And she meant more than what each of them were. "You don't know them like I do. Lydia. Stiles. Malia."

"And Scott," Noshiko finished for her.

Kira shrank a little. "Who?"

Noshiko then went to whisper in her ear. "He wasn't your first boyfriend. And he won't be your last."

The two of them left Kira standing there in the kitchen, staring off but not really seeing anything. "He's not my boyfriend," she muttered. Truth was, she didn't know what he was. But, she wanted to stay and find out what he could be.

* * *

Liam was changing in the locker room when he turned and found himself facing Stiles who was staring him down.

"Hey, Liam, right?" Stiles asked him. Liam turned and found that Scott was now at his other side staring him down like Stiles was. "You want to explain what that was out there?"

Liam looked confused. "What do you mean?"

"That little display? That little circus act?" Stiles told him.

The way that Liam had played on the field reminded Stiles of how Scott had been last year during their first practice after they were bitten. Scott had just like that when the Coach had put him in goal and he began catching the shots flawlessly when he began to tap into his wolf.

"What circus act?"

Stiles wondered if Liam was trying to play dumb. "You caught every shot."

Liam narrowed his eyes. "I was in goal."

"Yeah but nothing, not a single shot got passed you," he pressed on.

"Yeah, I was the goalie," Liam pointed out as if Stiles was lost on the concept. "You guys have played this game before?"

Stiles grit his teeth at that but Scott held his hand out at him.

"Stiles, calm down." Scott decided to take over from here. "You're a freshman, right?"

"Yeah," Liam nodded.

"But you weren't here last semester," Stiles pointed out.

"Yeah, I transferred out of Devenford Prep," he told them.

Scott and Stiles gave each other a look. They had been listening to his heartbeat and it was steady until he hit 'transferred'.

"You transferred?" Scott asked him.

"Yeah?" Liam repeated.

Stiles narrowed his eyes as his heart did it again. "You're lying."

"What?" Liam said looking at him.

"You're lying to us," said Stiles. "About being transferred."

"You got kicked out, didn't you?" Scott realized, drawing Liam's attention back to him.

Liam switched views between the two of them. "Okay, kicked out, transferred, whatever. What do you guys care?" he said getting defensive.

Stiles noticed the angry gleam in Liam's eyes and his own narrowed at him. "Should we?"

Liam took a deep breath and his eyes softened a bit. "Look, I just came here to play lacrosse, that's it. I mean, the team needs some more good players, right?"

Stiles shook his head. "Uh, no. We don't need any more good players."

"Actually, the team could use a couple," Scott told him.

Stiles shook his head. They were starting to lose focus. "Okay, how did you get this good? Have you always been this good or did it happen all at once, like overnight?"

"Overnight?"

"Yeah, like if say, something may have happened to you. Maybe on the night of a full-"

"Stiles!" Scott cut him off. That was a little too direct.

Liam was starting to get weirded out by them. He wondered why they were even bothering him. "Look, I learned from my stepfather, alright? He made team captain when he was a sophomore. Like you," he said looking at Scott. Then he looked over at Stiles. "And yeah, I guess I am just that good," he said to him cockily before he took his things and left.

"He wasn't lying that time," said Scott with a grin.

Stiles narrowed his eyes. "I noticed," he bit out. "But, that still doesn't prove that he's not, something."

"He doesn't have to be anything," Scott said back to him. "Not everything has to be supernatural. Some things are just…normal. Human."

Scott then left the locker room, leaving Stiles watching after him. He noticed that there had been a touch of envy in Scott's voice back there. Still, he couldn't shake the feeling that there was something about Liam.

* * *

Malia walked into math class but froze when her eyes fell on the board. It was littered with complex equations that she couldn't even begin to make sense of. One look at all of it and Malia was starting to back out of the doorway back into the hall. She was ready to move on out but she was grabbed and handled back into the classroom by Stiles.

"Running is not going to help," he said as he marched her inside.

"I hate Math. It's pointless," she told him.

"It's school. School is important. Math is essential," he said to her as he brought them to their seats next to Lydia.

Malia was skeptical. "To what?"

"Knowing how much to tip at restaurants," he told her with a wink.

Lydia had been going over her notes but she had listened in on them and looked over at them when he said that. "And less important things like medicine, economics, engineering."

"And tipping," he shrugged.

Lydia rolled her eyes as the teacher stood up from her desk to being the class.

"Okay, I'd like three volunteers to come to the board. Lydia, Diego, Malia," she said pointing at the three she called.

"Uh, I didn't volunteer," Malia said to her.

"You did now. To the board."

Malia looked back at Stiles to see he was giving her a double thumbs up in encouragement but Malia growled at him. Stiles' face fell and his eyes sharpened. He shook his head and silently told her to stay calm. She just sucked her teeth and picked herself up and headed for the board by Lydia.

Lydia saw that Malia wasn't making any moves to solve the problem. "Didn't you go over the notes I gave you?"

"I didn't understand them," she told her.

Lydia looked over at Stiles, who she knew was listening in on them. He just shrugged his shoulders and silently mouthed the words, ' _Help her_ '. Lydia noticed their teacher was at the back, helping someone else. She gave Malia's problem a glance and then looked back at the board. "X equals 25," she mumbled to her.

Malia looked over at her in shock.

" _Trust her, that's it_ ," Malia heard Stiles mumble to her.

Lydia then dropped the chalk. "And sweetheart, put away the claws."

Malia then turned and saw that her hand holding the chalk had her claws out. She nervously dropped it.

Stiles sighed. It wasn't the actual day of the full moon yet and Malia's control was slipping. "Malia, calm down. Just take some deep breaths." Stiles audibly took a deep breath himself. "And then write down the answer Lydia gave you. Don't worry about it. Come over to my house after school and we'll study. I'll help you. Okay?" he mumbled softly to himself knowing she would hear him. He watched as Malia went to rest her forehead to the board and then took two deep breaths. She then took her head from the board and nodded her head. Malia went to pick up the chalk with her now clawless hands, then slowly started to write the answer. Back in his seat, Stiles felt his phone vibrate and he went to check it out to see that it was an alert from his news app. His eyes widened when he saw that there had been a triple homicide.

After class, he went to find Scott and saw that he was with Kira. He went to them and quickly told them what he found.

"An axe murderer?" Kira asked when he finished.

"A family murdering axe murderer?" he corrected. "Came into their home in the middle of the night and just butchered them all, save for one."

But Scott shook his head. "I uh, already heard about it."

"Wait, what? You did, how?" Stiles said stiffening up.

"My mom called me. She knew we'd see it on the news," he muttered as they got to his locker.

"Perfect. Let's go," he said before starting to head off.

"Hold it," Scott said stopping him. "We've got Econ in five minutes."

"Right, but did forget about the part of family murdering axe murderer?"

"Did you forget about the part where your dad's the Sheriff? They want us to stay out of it." Scott was all for staying out like his mother wanted. Things were crazy enough already with Kate and if he wanted to get some degree of normalcy back then they couldn't go looking for more things to complicate it.

But Stiles wasn't having it. "Are you kidding me? A family was just killed by a family murdering axe murderer and you're worried about Econ?"

"Maybe we should let the adults handle it?" Kira suggested, backing up Scott.

Scott pressed on. "The killer is human and used an axe."

"An axe to butcher a random family. You don't think that's strange?" Stiles asked.

But Scott shook his head. "No, not really. This actually looks like it's something for the police to handle. It's not our kind of problem."

Stiles just looked back and forth at the two of them, not believing his ears. "Not our...so the two of you just want to stay here at school? Go to class? I never heard of anything so irresponsible in my life," he said before he started to walk off.

"See you at tryouts," Scott called out after him as Stiles just waved his arms off in response.

"You think he'll be okay?" Kira asked as she watched him walk off.

"Stiles will be fine." The bell rang and Scott quickened his pace in changing his books. "Uh so you know that thing you wanted to talk about?" Before Stiles had come to them, Kira said that she wanted to talk to Scott about something.

Kira nodded. "Yeah."

"Uh, can we talk later, after tryouts, do you mind waiting? It won't be that long."

"Um, I…sure," she sighed. She waited long enough already. What was another few hours? Besides, a part of her was still nervous about the whole thing.

He then closed his locker. "Great, see you then." Scott then gave her a quick kiss before he ran off to get to his next class. Kira just stood there, stunned by his action. Scott made it to his seat and sat down. About a second later, the full gravity of what he just did with Kira hit him and his eyes widened in realization. "Oh God."

* * *

The Mute was in his temporary hideout as he rejuvenated himself with his annual injections. He then moved to check his bank account on his computer. The deposits had been made for his three confirmed kills. He then checked on the hospital data logs to find that his target had been admitted. While it might be tricky to get in and out of the hospital unseen, it at least meant that he wouldn't have to go through the trouble of trying to hunt the last one down. He then moved to enter the code to try and see his future marks. He then moved to begin sharpening his tomahawk.

* * *

Sheriff Stilinski was in his office, talking or rather debating with his son.

"Stiles, I didn't tell you because this isn't any of your concern," he said tirelessly to him before his son started to speak to him excitedly. "That's right, a triple homicide has nothing to do with you boys even if the killer used an axe." There was a pause as he listened to his son's response. "Just because the weapon the killer used was strange doesn't mean that you need to get involved. For the moment, it's a normal homicide Stiles which makes it police business, not supernatural business. So please, just stay in school like all the other teenagers, okay?" He then stopped when Parrish knocked on the glass of his office door. "I gotta go Stiles. Look, if I find anything that seems out of the ordinary then I'll let you know." He listened to his son trying to throw in one last argument and he smirked into his phone. "Considering that I wouldn't have done that before, I'd call that progress," he said, playfully throwing his son's earlier words back at him before he hung up. He then went and opened the door to let his deputy in. "Parrish?"

"We roped the place off like you ordered but I think we should be doing a more thorough search of the property."

"Why?"

"To find out everything that happened last night."

"It's pretty obvious what happened and it's obvious what should be done next." The Sheriff then moved to leave his office. "I said I don't want anyone else on site. We review the photos, don't blame me for the nightmares."

Parrish just shook his head. "But Sheriff, don't you feel like we're missing something?"

Stilinski just sighed. Parrish was starting to sound like his son. "Yeah, I do. That's why Agent McCall is bringing in an expert from Quantico who deals with exactly this kind of thing. He said he would be by later after he's done following a lead on another case."

Parrish narrowed his eyes. "You mean the US Marshall?"

"What US Marshall?" Stilinski asked.

Parrish then looked over and they looked at the woman at the desk.

"I called about the case file," she said flashing her badge at her.

It was Braeden.

* * *

"You kissed her?" Stiles asked.

They were in the locker room, getting ready for tryouts and Scott had just told him about what had happened after they parted ways earlier.

"It was our first kiss. Our actual first kiss."

"That's good…right? You kissed her."

"I did, but I didn't."

"Well, was it on the lips?" If it was then that counted.

"Yeah…but it was the kind of kiss that you give your grandmother when you're five," he hissed out.

Stiles sucked in some air. "Ooh, a chaste kiss." Stiles didn't think that counted. "That's not good."

"No," Scott breathed out. "I kissed her and now it's completely weird. I don't know what to do. Maybe I should text her?"

Stiles shook his head. "No, enough with the texts." He felt Scott had done too much of that already. Then Stiles just chuckled as he let the back of his head hit his locker.

"What's with you?" Scott asked him.

"Nothing, it's just…wolves aren't supposed to get along with coyotes and foxes, right? Yet here we are, two wolves having issues because we want to be with a coyote and a fox. Some Turniversary huh?"

Scott couldn't help it. He let a small chuckle loose too. "Yeah." But then his face dropped a bit. "And I already told you we're not calling tomorrow that."

"Fine," Stiles said rolling his eyes. "But back to Malia and Kira, you think there's something wrong with us?"

"I think there's something wrong with everyone," Scott sighed out.

But then Coach started to blow his whistle to get their attention. "Case in point," Stiles said as they turned to face him.

Coach then dropped his whistle when he saw that everyone in the room was looking at him. "As a reminder, it's an open tryout today. All positions are available. This is a rebuilding season people." He then went to look at his clipboard. "Jackson's gone. Lahey's gone. Danny's gone, graduated early. And Greenberg, the one guy I actually wanted gone, was held back, again. Get your asses on the field!" he spat at all of them.

Everyone started to head off as Coach moved to get some last things from his office. Scott quickly grabbed his lacrosse stick and helmet and moved to catch up to him.

"Uh Coach, I just wanted to ask if I'm, you know-" Scott seemed to be having trouble finishing the rest of his question.

"You're on the team McCall." He then looked over at Stiles who was watching them off to the side as he was getting his own gear on. "You too Stilinski. Just make sure to show up for the actual games this time around."

Stiles nodded over at him with a wink.

Scott smiled. "That's great but I was wondering if I'm on the team like before?" His silent question was if he was still team captain.

But Coach just tapped his shoulder with the clipboard. "All positions are open McCall."

Scott guessed that meant that even the position of team captain was open. He then walked off out of the locker room for field as Liam watched him go with a calculating look in his eye. A look that Stiles happened to notice.

* * *

Derek was studying his face in a small mirror, letting his new golden eyes shine through from time to time. He hadn't seen these eyes staring back at him since before that awful night at the root cellar. It felt strange and wrong to him. Like his old eyeballs had been gouged out and someone stuck someone else's eyes into his eye sockets. There was then a hard knock on his door that tore his gaze away. He went to open the door to find that it was Scott's father.

"Agent McCall?" he said as he kept himself as impassive as possible. "This is a surprise. What can I do for you?"

"Hello Derek. I was wondering if I could ask you some questions."

Derek knew that it wasn't a request and he stepped off to the side. "Come in," he said.

Agent McCall stepped inside and gave the loft a once over. "Nice place," he mumbled.

Derek heard his heart stutter. "I don't need for much these days. So, what brings you here?"

McCall turned to face him. "I just thought you should know that last week, a young man was caught trespassing on the property of your home."

"It's not my home anymore," he muttered out darkly. "If anyone wants to hang around, then they can. I don't care."

Agent McCall nodded. "I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to upset you but the main reason I came was to tell you that when the boy's prints were run at the Sheriff's station they came back as yours."

Derek knew this as he remembered what had happened while he was de-aged. But he didn't want McCall to know that. "Must be some kind of mistake," he said simply to him.

McCall nodded. "Yes, that's what I thought at first. I would've had the prints run through the federal channels but he disappeared. Apparently, he was Stiles' cousin and he told me that he went back home to Mexico."

Derek tried really hard to resist the urge to show his annoyance at Stiles for his feeble and annoying explanation for himself. "Oh, well then I wouldn't worry. I don't want to make a big deal for Stiles and some relative of his over a mistake."

"Of course. I know you've been through quite a lot with him and even with my son Scott. I just thought that you should be made aware of this. I would've come to you about this sooner but you couldn't be reached. I came over a few times in the last week but there was no answer."

"I was out of town. Handling some personal things. I'm actually planning to leave Beacon Hills pretty soon after I wrap up some unfinished business."

There was then a knock behind them and then turned to see Braeden.

"Did I come at a bad time Derek?" she asked as she leaned on the door frame.

"Oh, no," he said with a small smile like she was expected. "Let me just wrap this up," he told her before he looked back at Agent McCall. "I hope there's nothing else wrong."

McCall tore his gaze away from Braeden to look back at him. "No, I don't think so. It probably was just some system's glitch. I won't keep your friend waiting." He then moved to leave but stopped before he got to the door. "Derek, you wouldn't happen to have actually met Stiles' cousin before, would you? He said his name was Miguel."

Derek shook his head. "No, can't say I have."

"Oh, well have a nice day then. Sorry for disturbing you." McCall then left the loft, giving Braeden a nod as he passed her.

Once Raphael was outside the building, he reached into his suit pocket and pulled out a photo. He let his eyes glaze over the young teenage boy in the photo that was surrounded by his family. It was Miguel. The problem was that the photo was of the Hale Family, just before the fire close to eight years ago. The boy in the picture had another name, Derek Hale. When the boy had vanished, he asked the Sheriff about his nephew but he didn't seem to know what he was talking about until he clarified that he was talking about the boy that was with Stiles. Stilinski tried to talk it away but Raphael knew he had found himself another lead. He then refreshed himself with the Hale Fire to find out what this kid would want to know so much about it when he stumbled upon the picture and couldn't believe his eyes. At first, he thought the boy might be some relative of the Hales that resembled Derek at his age but he couldn't find any record of another relative. He couldn't make sense of any of this yet but he felt like he was getting closer to unraveling what was going on with his son, ex-wife and all the people that they seemed to have brought into their lives in the past year along with the Stilinskis.

Back in the loft, Braeden went up to Derek and handed him the copy of the file that she got from the Sheriff's Station. "I got this from Sheriff Stilinski. You should probably take a look."

Derek took the file from her and looked through the notes, as well as some of the pictures. "There's nothing in here about Kate. This killer used an axe."

Behind him, Braeden was changing out of business attire and badge and was changing back into her street clothes. "Actually he used a military tomahawk."

Derek was about to turn around when he saw her still changing from the corner of his eye. He kept most of his sight to the side. "That's not in this report," he said to her.

"I know."

"You going to tell me what else you know?"

"Not yet, because I don't really know much."

He then saw that she had just finished changing and turned fully around to face her. "But you know something."

"Maybe. The problem is the people I need to talk to right now, don't talk to people like you."

He narrowed his eyes at her. "You want me to wait up for you?" he asked impatiently.

She leaned in closer to him. "I want you to trust me."

Derek leaned in closer himself. "Why would I trust you? I don't know anything about you."

"Well, I know you," she said to him as she turned her head a bit. "And I know what you really want." She then moved to circle him a bit. "You want what Kate stole from you." She then recited a quote, not in English. "It means the true nature of someone is reflected in their eyes. In your case, the color of your eyes." She then started to walk off for her jacket. "And I know that you are in a hurry for some reason. I overheard you with Scott's father. You don't want to stick around here for long. That's why you were so quick to take the offer against your uncle's protest. So, trust me when I say that this is the best and quickest way."

Derek huffed through his nose as he grabbed the gun she left on the table and tossed it for her to catch. "You've got a week, or no deal," he told her.

Braeden then turned and moved to leave the loft nonchalantly while Derek stared after her for a bit. He then moved to stare back at his face from his mirror.


	6. Muted part 2

Chapter 6: Muted part 2

There were quite a few people who turned up to watch the lacrosse tryouts. Among them was Malia who wanted to watch Stiles before they headed off to his house later. She was then joined by Kira who went and grabbed one of the lacrosse sticks lying close by. On the field, the players were all running a few laps while Coach was giving them condescending words as they each passed him. Scott and Stiles were running together, in step with the rest of the team. The two of them had decided that they should try and play without using any of their powers to try and not be at an unfair advantage and be a level playing field with everyone else. Scott looked over at the bleachers and held his hand out to stop Stiles.

"Hey look," he said pointing out at them with his chin.

Stiles looked over and saw Malia and Kira sitting together, watching them. He gave them a bright smile and waved over at them. They waved back and Kira had a big teethy smile which made a small grin creep up on Scott's face and he gave a small wave himself.

Stiles leaned in a bit to him but had his eyes still on the girls. "Kira came to watch you at tryouts and she's smiling at you. Who knows, maybe she got turned on by your quick grandma kiss," he joked.

Scott sucked on his teeth and pushed at Stiles' shoulder in slight annoyance but still kept his eyes on Kira. He was thankful that Kira couldn't hear them from there. Scott and Stiles were both so stuck on their gazes at the girls that they jumped when a hard whistle was blown at them.

"McCall! Stilinski! Flirt on your own time, not on practice time! Now you practice so try to practice running," he said before blowing hard on his whistle again. "Move, move!" he said blowing the whistle after every word. The two of them quickly started running again with Coach blowing short whistle bursts after them.

Over in the bleachers, Kira started to spin the net in her fingers as Scott and Stiles resumed their running. She started to begin nervously picking at the netting on the stick while Malia tried to go back to her notes. Malia's nose started twitching as Kira kept her attention intently on the lacrosse stick.

"What's wrong with you?" Malia suddenly asked her.

Kira's eyes nearly popped out of her skull. "Me? Nothing," she said quickly.

Malia just gave her a look. "You reek of anxiety, and it's distracting. What's going on?"

Kira sighed in defeat. "Scott and I sort of had this thing happen but it wasn't much of a thing and now I'm starting to think it never was a thing, at all," she finished glumly.

Malia shook her head. "What do you want it to be?"

"More." She then went and rested her chin on the stick dejectedly as she moved her eyes back to the field.

When the players stopped running, they all scattered about. Some of them just sat in the grass while others just stood in place. Scott was stretching his arms out while Stiles just jumping in place to loosen himself up though his eyes were focused on Liam, who was doing pushups.

Stiles then stopped his jumping and leaned in close to Scott. "He's not even breathing hard. Now I'm really starting to think he can't be human."

"Or he could really be just that good." Scott moved to stretch out his right arm. "He's not a werewolf Stiles. I mean we would've caught a scent. Remember when we found Isaac when he came to practice after Derek bit him?"

Stiles shook his head. "Yeah but that doesn't necessarily mean anything. Remember how it was when we had to hunt for the Alpha? And besides, he doesn't have to be a werewolf. Any shapeshifter could do. He could be like…a werecheetah or something."

Scott narrowed his eyes. "Is that even a thing?"

Stiles shrugged. "At this point, we probably should be asking 'what isn't a thing?' Besides…there's something about that guy. I can't shake it," he said narrowing his eyes at Liam.

Scott noticed how his friend was eyeing him. "What? What is it?" To him, he didn't see anything out of the ordinary. He seemed like a regular, cocky freshman. "He doesn't look dangerous."

Stiles didn't know if he would say that. "Maybe," he muttered. "But, something is off with him. I felt it."

Scott shook his head. "I didn't feel anything."

"No, it was only for a split second," said Stiles. "Like a flash. I'm telling you, he's hiding something underneath that smug smile of his." For in that flash, Stiles thought it felt like...anger. A lot of it but it was being held back. Like Liam was struggling and putting a real strong effort to stay calm, in control. Much like a werewolf would.

Stiles then started to shake his leg to try and loosen it up but Scott stayed in place as he looked from his friend to Liam. The kid had finished his pushups and now was talking to his pal Garrett and some of the other guys. He listened in and they were talking about some girl named Violet that Garrett was dating. Just ordinary high school stuff.

"Yeah, normal teenager stuff," Scott said glumly. "Which reminds me, control yourself out there, like we talked about."

"Yeah, I remember."

Coach then called for the players to begin to lineup and give off some practice shots. "Make papa proud boys!" he shouted at the team but his eyes were locked on to Scott and Stiles.

Stiles was up first and he went and scooped up the ball into the net of his stick. He then looked over at the goal with the goalie standing ready for him. Stiles exhaled before he went and took a shot, which was caught by the goalie. The guy didn't even have to really move at all as the ball landed in the net. Stiles heatedly huffed out as he went off for the back of the line where Scott was waiting for him. He gave him a friendly pat while the others were giving him a smirk.

"Well, that sucked," Stiles mumbled.

But Scott shook his head. "Don't worry, you're just warming up." Scott looked over at Liam who was next. "And he's probably not going to get any better," he said a little nervously.

Stiles shrugged as he saw Scott eye the kid. "Well, maybe he's only good in goal," he offered. "Totally useless on the rest of the field." That got Scott to nod in agreement, until Liam took his shot and got in square in the goal. "Or maybe he's good in everything."

"Yes!" Coach cried out. "That's what I like to see!"

Stiles huffed. "This could be a problem."

"Maybe not," Scott muttered. "I mean, the team needs new players." As soon as he was up, he stomped over to the balls and scooped one up into his net. He then moved and made his shot, and watched the ball as it hit the post right outside the goal. That made everyone around him start laughing and Coach sigh in disappointment.

"Nice McCall," Garrett smirked at him.

"Hey Garrett, shut up," Stiles said in defense of his friend.

As practice went on, everyone watched as Liam scored goal after goal against the goalie. But when either Scott or Stiles went up, they failed to score. Sometimes, they would miss the goal entirely. As it went on, they saw that Coach looked like he wanted to strangle them after they each failed for five consecutive times.

After watching Scott's recent miss, Kira leaned in to Malia. "Isn't the captain supposed to be one of the best players on the team? Or good?"

She seemed uncomfortable as she watched Stiles play terribly himself. "They would be, if they weren't trying to actually stink instead," she said. She had run with Stiles in the woods quite a few times so she had a pretty good idea how he moved at his best, and this wasn't it. Stiles was being completely sloppy out on the field. And Scott's moves were lacking as well. She remembered seeing him fight the Berserkers and this was pathetic in comparison.

Stiles glared off at Scott when he got to the back of the line with him. "This is pathetic. Scott, I feel like we're trying our best to actually be the worst. Why can't we just play like ourselves again?"

Scott closed his eyes as he pushed away his own aggravation at their miserable tryout. "Because we agreed to be humans on the field this season, remember? No wolf powers. We're going to be normally human, just like everyone else," he said in a tired and longing tone.

Stiles huffed. "Scott, did you forget why we were on the bench before last year? It was because the normally, human us stunk."

Scott sighed deeply. Yes, he wouldn't deny that. Hearing the team laugh at him and seeing him mess up one shot after another reminded him of less than impressive times. "We just need to practice playing more without it, that's it. We should've been doing that all this time anyway."

"When were we supposed to do that?" The recent months weren't exactly full of chances for them to practice. "Scott, you worked hard to bring your grades up and Coach is ready to give me another chance. After everything that's happened and that we've been through, we can't let a freshman come in and kick us to the curb. I mean, what's the harm in us using a bit of our power to stay on the team?"

"We don't need our powers to make the team," Scott tried to argue feebly.

Stiles then looked over his shoulder. "What about making team captain?"

Scott looked over to see Liam scoring again and being congratulated by the entire team. Many of them were saying that he would be this year's team captain. Even Coach was clapping for him. Scott felt something heat up inside him and a bit of a crimson flare appeared in his eyes.

Coach then blew the whistle to bring everyone together. "Hustle!" he yelled at all of them. "McCall and Stilinski," he said pointing to them. "Grab the long sticks. You're covering goal for two on one." His tone made it clear that he was less than happy with the two of them. "Let's go. Line it up!"

Scott and Stiles went and grabbed the sticks and headed off to stand near the goal.

Stiles leaned in. "I still say there's something about him. If we did up our game, all we would be doing is just evening the playing field."

But Scott shook his head. "No, he's not anything. I don't know what you're feeling Stiles but I'm just not getting anything off him."

The Coach then blew the whistle and they saw that Garrett was up first.

"Oh, I hate this guy," Stiles mumbled.

Scott had to confess, he kind of didn't like him either.

Garrett ran at them, for the goal. Stiles moved to block his direct path so Garrett tried to veer off for his right but Scott moved to jump in his way. Garrett turned to avoid him but Scott's reflexes kicked in and he brought his stick down to make Garrett lose the ball.

"Yeah, that's my boy!" Coach said enthusiastically. "Those two are like sons to me," he muttered to one of the boys trying out.

"Yes," Kira cheered.

Malia watched it all indifferently from the stands. She just kept her eyes on the boys.

Stiles moved over to him. "What was that? You just used some wolf reflexes back there."

"I know." Scott looked down a bit. "It just…came out. I couldn't help it." Scott then let a small smirk creep onto him. "But it felt good."

"Yeah?" Stiles breathed as they moved to stand back in their places.

They then shared a small look. Scott let his eyes go red inside his helmet which made Stiles' own eyes flare blue in his. Scott quickly turned away to look back at the line of players when the whistle blew again. Stiles narrowed his eyes on the back of his friend's head at that but went alert when the next player started up. Stiles moved up to ram into the guy and though he tried to dart around him, Stiles found himself seeing his attempt with his instincts and let himself move to push into him. The force made him lose the ball as it flew up into the air where Scott quickly caught and hurled it for the next guy in line where it easily landed into his net. Coach smiled before he blew the whistle again for the next player to move. He tried to carefully find an opening between them but Scott and Stiles charged and tackled into him together making him fall flat on his back.

"That's how you do it!" Coach roared out. "That's how it's done!"

Scott felt his insides burn up in a rush of anticipation and adrenaline from Coach's praise. Stiles was ecstatic himself and raised his gloved hand over at Scott for him to slap it back and they then did a small victory slide around each other. They were finally turning everything around for themselves. The other players no longer were laughing or looking down at them. Now, they seemed to be worried. Well, all but one of them.

Liam was next and he was as confident and assured as ever. At the sight of him, Scott and Stiles tensed up. Now was the moment of truth as they would have direct contact with him. The whistle blew and Liam charged forward for the goal. Stiles moved for him first and jumped at him. Liam quickly stopped running and Stiles grazed him as Liam turned to his side to avoid him. Scott then went for his net but Liam spun around to make Scott get nothing but air as Liam bounced off behind him. He then moved and shot the ball and scored a goal. The team cheered as Kira and Malia sighed out indignantly. Liam then jogged back for the line, throwing a cocky smile Scott's way as he passed him.

"That was luck!" Malia cried out to them.

Stiles started shaking his head. "Oh no, Malia don't get involved," he sighed out.

But she kept going. "Do over!" she yelled over in Coach's direction.

But he just smirked over at her. "Sweetheart, there are no do overs. This is practice." He then turned his back on her.

"Ten bucks on Scott and Stiles."

He turned back to face her. "I'll take that action. Get back in there Liam!" he yelled over at him.

Stiles sighed out impatiently but Scott narrowed his eyes as he watched Liam get back to the front of the line. Scott's grip on his stick started to tighten and he started breathing a little hard and a bit of a growl escaped his lips.

Coach blew his whistle and Liam was again running for them. Stiles jumped for Liam again and tried to whack at his net but Liam ducked and braced himself to avoid Stiles but Scott charged at him and flipped him over into the air. Liam spun around and he landed right onto his ankle. There was a loud crack that was heard throughout the field that made everyone freeze. Even Coach was shocked as the whistle fell off his frozen lips. Scott and Stiles quickly yanked their helmets off and ran for him. Liam's leg was in an unnatural angle as he tried to pick himself up.

"Don't move!" Coach yelled over at him. "Don't touch him!"

The two of them had been moving to see to him but backed off when Coach pointed at them.

"I'm okay Coach!" Liam cried out. "I'm alright!"

He tried to pick himself up but nearly fell when he tried to stand on his feet. Scott and Stiles quickly moved to catch him before he fell back down. They then moved to wrap his arms around their shoulders. Together, they hoisted him up so that the tips of his feet were hovering off the ground and he wasn't standing on his hurt leg.

"We better get him to the nurse," Stiles said at Coach.

He nodded and the two of them carried Liam off together while he tried not to scream or react to the pain he was feeling.

Coach watched them go off with a hard look on his face. He pointed at everyone that was left. "You guys, take a lap. Start, running around the field!" he spat at all of them and they all quickly moved to run. He found the ball Liam dropped and went to pick it up. He angrily threw it off, and saw as it was hurling towards the stands at Malia who was reading her book like nothing just happened. He then watched as Kira moved to catch it with the lacrosse net before it could hit her. "Oh," he said in both shock and relief. "Wow, nice catch." He then got an idea. "Throw it back," he told her.

Kira then stood up and hurled the ball at his chest. "Oh my god," she muttered as she saw Coach fall down on one knee.

But Coach smiled through his pain. "Someone ask her if she ever played lacrosse," he coughed out.

* * *

Lydia had left school as soon as it was over and didn't stay for the lacrosse tryouts. Yes, Scott and Stiles were there but they had Kira and Malia to watch and cheer them on. Last year, she had been at the tryouts for Jackson, back when they had been dating. Now she didn't have anyone and she didn't feel like being there as a fifth wheel. Truth was, she'd been feeling like that for a while with Scott and Kira getting closer to actually acting on their feelings for each other and Stiles and Malia getting more comfortable with expressing theirs. Scott and especially Stiles were both nice guys and they had managed to find girls who appreciated that. While Jackson may not have exactly been Mr. Chivalrous, she had cared about him and she knew that he did too, deep down, but it turned out that it wasn't enough for him to stay with her. Lydia thought back to when she had told Allison that she didn't want a boyfriend but a distraction. She had found that with Aiden but he had gone on and become more than a simple distraction. Him dying had left a bigger hole than she thought possible. Maybe the problem was that she always seemed to fall towards the too cool bad boy types. She wondered if she should lean more for the opposite awkward nice guy types. It seemed to be working for Kira and Malia. The problem was the decent ones that could accept all this supernatural stuff and her banshee self were already taken. Maybe she should try to go for someone that's biggest concerns weren't about trying to be cool or popular but actually cared about real stuff. Maybe someone that wasn't in high school.

She was so wrapped up in these thoughts that she didn't notice that she was already walking through her front door. But as she stepped into the house, she realized that it wasn't hers.

Jordan Parrish was sitting in his squad van in front of the house, looking over the pictures of the slain members of the Walcott family. He wasn't sure why but he felt that these killings weren't what they seemed at first glance. It seemed far too brutal for a murderer killing a suburban family. And with a tomahawk? He could feel that there was something they were missing about this. He let himself look away from the photos and he noticed that the front door was open. He hopped out of the van and went for his gun as he moved into the house.

"Beacon County Sheriff's Department! This is a crime scene, show yourself!" he called out.

There was then some movement and he held his gun up as Lydia stepped into view. He sighed at the sight of her and dropped his gun.

"Parrish, right?" Lydia mumbled.

He went and put his gun back in the holster. "Yeah, and you're Lydia, right?" She nodded. "What are you doing here?"

Lydia moved to leave the front hall and he followed after her. "I would try to explain it but I've never got a satisfactory explanation myself."

"Just an unusual habit of showing up at places where people have been brutally murdered?" he put out there. He remembered seeing her at a few crime scenes and as a witness to other murders such as the gas station.

That made her turn to look at him. "Are you saying I have a reputation?"

"An usual one," he shrugged. "Maybe you're psychic?"

She gave him a look. There was no stutter in his voice or twitch in his face as he said that, like he was serious. "Don't tell me you believe all that?" she asked as she walked off.

He let his eyes follow after her. "I'd like to say that I don't believe in anything but I keep an open mind. But if you're looking for dead bodies, you're a little late."

Lydia stopped moving around and was now staring at a random wall. She let her eyes focus on it and started to see screaming faces in the wood paneling. She heard the screaming from people and could also pick up sounds of dripping blood. She went and put her hand to it and found that fell back, like a door. As it opened, there was a rush of cold vapor spilling out. She then looked back over at Parrish and he quickly moved her to the side as he went for his gun. He moved to open the door and shined a flashlight in. There was some kind of tunnel dug into the wall and it was cold in there, like a refrigerator. Parrish found a switch and turned it on to see that there were bundles hanging on hooks. It looked like chunks of beef but there were all in giant bags.

"I think it's a game locker. Like Venison. Hunting is legal in some parts of the state." But he stopped there.

Lydia noticed the look on his face. He seemed to be alert for some reason. "What is it?" she asked him.

Parrish went to one of the bags and unzipped it. "It's not Venison."

Lydia looked and saw that it was a human body. A woman, and it wasn't one of the Walcotts.

* * *

Scott found his way to Kira who was waiting for him at the steps outside the locker room. "Hey, so we're taking Liam to the hospital. It could be a sprain or a break."

But Kira shook her head as she smiled at him. "It's okay, I get it. We can talk later?" she asked him.

He nodded. "And, I'm sorry about before. Uh, before before, when I did that _thing_ in the hallway," he said, hoping that he didn't have to actually say what he meant.

She was still smiling though it was a little awkwardly. "It's fine," she quickly told him. "Totally okay."

He could see that she was still off about the whole thing and rushed to try and smooth things over. "I didn't mean to make things awkward. Or weird. I'm sorry." She nodded. Scott then moved to leave to head for the hospital but as he left the hallway, he stopped and then shook his head. He then turned around and headed right back for her. "You know what, I'm not sorry," he said as he stomped for her.

He then moved to kiss Kira. Really kiss her. His hands grasped her at the waist while she wrapped her own arms around his neck to deepen their kiss. The two of them let themselves forget all the awkwardness and the circumstances around them and just enjoy one another. Scott found himself widely smiling as he pulled away from Kira, who he saw was smiling widely herself.

"That's better," she said to him.

Scott nodded before he went off to meet with the others while Kira watched him take off with her smile stuck on her.

* * *

Over at the hospital, Melissa was hovering over Sean who had a tray of food next to him but he wasn't making a move to even touch it.

"Are you sure you won't eat something?"

"Yes," he said as he just stared distastefully at it.

Melissa was worried. Sean was looking like he hadn't eaten for a while but he seemed determined not to eat a bite of what they were giving him. She guessed that the shock was still too much for him. "Okay," she told him. "Call if you need anything. There's a deputy standing right outside."

He then turned in the bed and she moved to leave the room. Sean started to glare at a spot on the floor as he started to rock a bit in the bed. Melissa walked off for the front desk when she froze at the sight of her son and Stiles, who was holding up a teenager by the arm.

"Uh, hi mom," Scott said when he caught sight of her.

Melissa quickly brought out a wheelchair and the boys helped Liam get into it. She then moved to make sure that his leg was elevated properly. "Don't worry Liam, we'll take good care of you."

She then wheeled Liam out of there leaving the two teen wolves watching after them.

"Well," Stiles sighed out after a moment. "I think it's safe to say that he's definitely human." Scott just kept looking off for where Liam and his mom disappeared to. "Alright, I have to get going. I promised Malia that I'd help her study."

Scott nodded. "Sure, I want to check on him anyway."

Stiles was about to leave but he stopped. "Hey, I don't have to say that this wasn't your fault, right?"

Scott just stared off. "I don't know," he mumbled.

Stiles sighed. "Scott, if you had used any of your real power then that kid wouldn't be limping, he would be crawling, back to the other half of his body."

Now Scott sighed. "If I hadn't been so worried about being captain, he wouldn't be hurt either."

"Scott, you know, it's okay to want things for yourself once in a while. It's normal. Team Captain. Alpha Werewolf. You're still human. Normally human, just like everyone else," he said echoing his earlier words.

With that, Stiles tapped him at the shoulder and he left. Scott watched after him and he let himself just sigh his tiredness and unease out.

* * *

Noshiko looked over at their empty open house before looking at the time. "Ken, would you please call the real estate agent and ask him why not a single person has come to this open house," she called out.

She then looked over at her husband as he walked into the house with a bundle in his hands.

"I think I know why," he said as he revealed the For Sale sign to her. It was cut into pieces, by a sword.

"Kira!" she yelled out.

Kira was in her room, practicing some of her sword moves with the lacrosse stick. Coach had told her that he was going to try her out for the team after what happened today. She was happy that she was going to get a chance to be on the team with Scott and Stiles, but especially with Scott. Especially after this afternoon. When she heard her mother yell for her, she guessed that they had found out that she slashed the sign when she had gotten home. Now, more than ever, she didn't want to leave Beacon Hills.

* * *

Over in Stiles' room, both he and Malia were in his bed as they were going over the material in the math book. Stiles was calmly looking over the stuff in the next chapter but Malia was feeling more agitated the more she read. Finally she just huffed and shut the book closed.

"Hey," Stiles said turning to her. "We're not finished yet."

But Malia went and pushed Stiles flat on the bed before she climbed on top of him. "Yes we are."

She then went and kissed him and Stiles quickly found himself giving into it. They started to make out with light groans and even a growl starting to make it way out of them. But Stiles dug deep and pulled back.

"Malia, I promised I would help you study." He then lifted her off and placed her back at the side of the bed as she moaned out in disappointment. But Stiles still smiled at her. "We study first and then, we can go back to that. _Lots_ of that," he assured her. That made Malia give him a mischievous smile that he found himself returning. "So much of that. Your father isn't going to be waiting up for you again, is he? I don't want him to be mad at me again."

During the first two weeks of him and Scott trying to train Malia, his dad had often come over to his house, asking for Malia to come home. He had often given him a bit of a stink eye, especially on the times when he saw that it was just him and Malia, alone.

She shrugged. "It's okay now. Yeah, my dad didn't like it at first but your dad came over and talked with him."

Stiles' eyes widened. "He did? When?"

Malia nodded. "It was about three days before we went off to Mexico. He asked me to give them some time to talk to themselves and so I came over. Remember when you decided to take me out to try that stuff that's cooked in a circle."

"Pizza," Stiles reminded her.

"Yeah. Well, when I went back home, our dads were still there talking. Yours told me that he had told mine everything."

Stiles' eyes nearly popped. " _Everything_ everything?"

She nodded. "My dad didn't seem to really believe it until the Sheriff asked for me to show him my eyes. He thought my dad should know so he knew why I was acting like I did and why he thought it was best for my dad to let me keep hanging out with you and everybody else."

Stiles froze. His father never told him that he had done any of that. He guessed that was why he reacted the way he did when he learned that he hadn't told him about Mexico. Now Stiles was starting to guilty about the whole thing. Malia then moved to open her book again and Stiles noticed her grab highlighter pens.

"What's with all the highlighters?" he asked her trying to get his mind off his new guilt.

"Green is for the things I understand. Yellow is for I'm working on it. And red means I have no clue. I'm mostly using red," she muttered.

Stiles narrowed his eyes. He found himself looking over at his tack board to see the remnants of string from his last mystery board. The different color strings he uses to make connections where a lot of it was red. Stiles let a deep smile come over him as he looked back at Malia. He loved his friends, he did, but sometimes he felt like the odd one out of the group. No one seemed to really compliment or relate to him when it came to his way of thinking or his love of sarcasm. But, then came Malia with her blunt comments and her color coded organization skills. She was perfect. He leaned in closer to her and drew her eyes away from the books in front of them. This time, he initiated their kiss, wanting to do this and more with her. But Malia was the one to pull away after a few seconds.

"Study first, remember?" she said as she threw his earlier words back at him.

Stiles let a small laugh escape him. "Yeah," he said as he moved to get back to work.

Malia then sighed. "So, what's the secret?" she said suddenly. For a moment, Stiles panicked. "Why is math impossible for me and easy for you guys?"

Stiles tried not to sigh in relief at that. "Uh, well usually we use notes."

"Then somebody needs to give me notes on Lydia's notes because I don't understand any of this," she huffed out as she brought out Lydia's notebook.

"Okay," Stiles said taking it to give them a try. But as he opened it, his face fell at what was written. "Lydia wrote these?"

Malia noticed his tone. "Yeah, what are they?"

Stiles shook his head. "They're not math." From what Stiles could make out, this looked more like some kind of code. He'd seen this before. When Lydia kept drawing the Nemeton in her book and something told him that this was meant just as much trouble now as it was back then. A ding rang out from Stiles' phone. "It's Lydia," he said as saw that it was Lydia that was texting him.

"Speak of the confusing devil," Malia went and sat up. "What did she send you?"

He looked up from the phone with a confusing look coming over him. "An address, with an SOS." That meant trouble.

* * *

Parrish had quickly radioed for the Sheriff to come to the Walcott home and he was surprised to find that Lydia was there as well. He had been brought in and shown the entrance of the hidden meat locker.

Noah was looking the entrance over and wasn't surprised that he and his deputies missed it the first time they were all there. "How did you find this?" he asked as they stepped away from it.

"I didn't," Parrish said before he looked over at Lydia, who was standing quietly to the side. "She did."

"Lydia?" She looked straight at him but wasn't saying anything. A moment later, Stiles and Malia started stumbling through the open front door. He sighed and looked over at Parrish. "Hey Parrish, do you mind searching the rest of the house one more time. Especially the bedrooms."

Parrish was looking over at Lydia was talking in whispers with the Sheriff's son and the girl with him. She seemed quite serious as she spoke with them. No doubt about what she helped find and the other two didn't seem that shaken up either. He snapped out of it when the Sheriff said his name a little loudly. "Uh sorry sir." The Sheriff then repeated his earlier order and he nodded. "Yeah, I'm on it."

As soon as Parrish took off for the stairs, the four of them huddled together.

"What are you three doing here?" the Sheriff hissed at them. "I told you to stay out of this one."

"Lydia texted us," said Malia.

"Dad, Lydia says that she didn't remember coming here," Stiles quickly told him. "That means she was drawn here. Lydia is a banshee and she's drawn towards death. And usually not the normal kind of death. _Supernatural_ death," he stressed. "There's something not normal about the way that the people whose bodies she found had died. We need to see them and find out what."

His father sighed deeply. "Alright." Who was he to argue with that kind of logic. "But make it quick. We don't know how long until Parrish comes back down."

Stiles practically charged into the meat locker with the others on his tail. As soon as he opened the metal door and got inside, his nose twitched. The stench of death was powerful in this room. He could see about half a dozen bodies hanging from hooks but he felt the scent was too potent to come from only six. It looked like many more bodies had found their way here at different times. He turned and saw that Malia's face hardened a little too from the scent. He then sniffed and found where the smell of blood was the freshest. It was the body of a woman in her mid to late twenties. Stiles carefully opened her bag up a bit and stepped back suddenly. The woman's left arm was half missing. Deep pieces of flesh looked like they had been torn off. He could make out bite marks at the edges.

"Something was eating her," Malia said as she caught sight of it. "That's how deer looked like when I got too full to finish it and brought it back to my den."

"What did this?" Stiles' father asked. "A werewolf?"

"I don't know." Stiles went to get a closer look and his fingers grazed one of the bite marks. Suddenly, Stiles gasped. His mind was filled with the image of a set of jaws with two sets of shark like teeth. They were digging into the body, tearing the flesh off and devouring it. And it was more than one set. "Oh my god," Stiles gasped as Malia went over to him and took hold of his shoulder as he steadied himself.

"Stiles? You okay?" his dad asked him.

Stiles was still panting a little hard. He hadn't experienced a sensation like that in months. Where his senses painted a picture for him to see. He then looked over at his father. "Dad, we have to get to the hospital. Right now."

* * *

Liam was getting his ankle looked over by his stepfather. He was gently trying to look it over and Liam felt stings at the slightest touches.

"It's broken, isn't it?" he asked his stepfather but kept his eyes on his ruined ankle.

"It's definitely going to need an X-ray," his stepfather said, trying to not sour the mood any more than it was.

But Liam soured it himself. "It's broken and it's my fault."

"You want to tell me what happened?"

"I went up against two juniors. One of them is captain of the team."

His stepfather went and put a comforting arm over his shoulder. "Hey, remember what we always say. Play smart, not hard."

Liam sighed. "Are you mad at me?"

"No," his stepfather said immediately. "Of course not. Your mom might be mad at me for getting you into lacrosse but maybe we should wait for the X-ray before we panic. And trust me, I have more reason to panic then you. It's not over yet, wait for the X-ray," he said on a hopeful note before he went to leave.

He then went into the hallway and passed by Scott who had been standing close by and heard everything. Now, he felt worse for injuring Liam out there. But he was snapped out of it when he felt his phone vibrating. He looked and saw that Stiles was calling him.

"Hey Stiles," he said picking it up.

" _Scott, where are you right now?_ " he asked desperately.

"What? I'm still at the hospital," he told him.

" _Oh good. Listen Scott, the survivor from the attack of that axe murderer. He's there and you have to find him_ ," he said quickly.

But Scott shook his head. "Whoa, slow down. Why?"

" _Because he might hurt someone. Scott, he isn't human. The Walcotts are shapeshifters._ "

Scott gave a look around and ducked his head a bit and lowered his voice. "What are you talking about?"

" _There were a bunch of bodies found in a hiding spot at their house. Bite marks all over, like they were being eaten. You have to find Sean Walcott and find him fast_. _I'm already on my way and my dad is right behind me but we might not make it in time. We can't let him get away._ "

Scott stiffened as he looked out, feeling panic start to take him.

* * *

Raphael McCall was at the Sheriff's station, going through his laptop as he tried to run a check on a name. He had gone there after his visit to Derek Hale and they told him that he had missed the specialist that he had arranged for them. That was surprising as the specialist wasn't supposed to have reached town so quickly and what was even more surprising was when they told him that she had left to start right away. The specialist he had arranged wasn't a woman so he knew something was up from the start. Luckily, they had taken her badge number and he was looking up the claimed US Marshall. He then saw the listing for the agent and saw that this Marshall was legit. However, she had been out on extensive sabbatical leave. He wondered why a US Marshall would drop out of the picture and then suddenly show up to investigate a triple homicide. He then clicked her profile and his eyes widened at the picture. This woman, Braeden, he had seen her before. Barely two hours ago, in Derek Hale's loft. Something new to add to the growing list surrounding his son, Stiles, their friends and all the mysterious crimes and occurrences in this town.

Suddenly, the entire department seemed to erupt into action. Raphael flagged down the nearest deputy. "What's going on?" he asked him.

"The Sheriff just called. He's ordered for some officers to head to the hospital."

"Why?"

"To bring in the Walcott boy. Parrish had found bodies hidden in the Walcott's home. He and the Sheriff are heading over to Beacon Memorial now."

The deputy then took off and Raphael stood there for a moment. He then went to grab his keys and headed for his car. He then quickly drove off but not for the hospital. He was heading to the Walcott house. Something about what was found there had set the Sheriff off in a panic. Maybe the bodies or their hiding place might start giving him answers over a teenager that was already being watched at the hospital.

* * *

Scott quickly went for the elevator but saw that they were already closing. "Wait, hold the doors!" he called out.

But he was too late. They shut behind him and Scott decided that he would have to use the stairs.

Over at another part of the hospital, Melissa was moving to pay Sean Walcott a visit. She saw that the guard wasn't outside the door and guessed that he stepped away for something. She looked and saw that the lights had been dimmed. She moved in and softly opened the door.

"Sean, are you awake?" she asked softly in case he was resting. "The Sheriff's on his way. I'm going to need you to wake up."

She then turned on the light to find that the bed was empty. She went to take a closer look and found that there was a trail of blood at the foot of the bed. It led right to the deputy and Sean was over him, eating him.

"I couldn't help it, I'm so hungry" Sean mumbled. He then looked up at Melissa, showing his pale white eyes and double rows of sharp teeth. "I'm just so hungry!" Melissa was frozen as she looked at Sean stand up and reveal that his front was covered with the deputy's blood. "I think I'm ready to talk now," he told her.

She quickly moved to get out of there but Sean chased after her and tackled her just outside the door. She then screamed as Sean tried to pull at her legs to drag her back inside. He stopped when a roar sounded out and they turned to see Scott, shifted and running for them. Sean roared himself just as Scott pounced for him. The two of them grappled against each other until Sean quickly threw Scott off of him and made a run for it. Scott picked himself up and looked over at his mother who still seemed shaken.

"I'm alright," she quickly told him.

"Are you sure?" he asked her in concern.

She nodded and her face went hard. "Go get that son of a bitch."

Scott let a small angered growl out before he took off to go after him.

* * *

Liam was limping into the empty hall as the crash and roar made his way to him. "Hey, anyone hear that?" he asked out.

He was then taken by surprise by Sean who flashed his bloodied teeth at him. Sean grabbed him and dragged him off for the stairs, up for the roof. Scott made it to the staircases and saw a spot of blood leading up. He then heard someone scream and ran up to the roof where he spotted Sean, with Liam at the edge.

"Get back!" Sean warned him.

"Don't!" Scott cried at him. "You don't need to do this. Whatever it is, whatever you are, we can help you."

"No you can't," he said as Liam struggled against him.

"Let me help you," Scott said softly to him.

Sean snarled at him. "Wendigos don't need help. We need food!" he roared out which made Liam cry out in terror.

Liam tried to pull himself away which made an opening for Scott to jump for them. Sean pushed Liam away but Scott pushed at Sean and went to catch him as he started to fall off. Scott managed to help him grab the edge but Sean moved over and started to pull at Scott to make him let the boy go. Liam's grip on the edge was slipping and he already lost one hand's grip. He wasn't going to be able to hold himself up for much longer and Scott wasn't able to grab him as his arms were trying to keep Sean back.

"I can't hold on!" Liam cried out.

Scott then saw Liam's hand lose its grip and, without thinking, moved to catch his wrist, with his teeth. Liam screamed as Scott's fangs punctured his skin but held him up and kept him from falling to his death. Sean was still pulling at Scott but he stopped when he felt a piercing pain at his back. He then collapsed and Scott moved to pull Liam up and back onto the roof. He then turned to see that an axe was getting pulled out of Sean's back. Moving away from his body was a guy dressed in black. He then turned to face Scott and his eyes widened when he saw that it was a man, with no mouth. He just stared at Scott and then held a finger up to where the mouth was supposed to be and made a shushing gesture before he left.

Scott was shocked but was torn out of it by Liam's cry. He was holding onto his wrist. His wrist that was bleeding from the great bite mark that was on it. Scott then realized what he had done. He had bitten Liam. Liam was just bitten by an Alpha. What had he just done?


	7. The Benefactor

Chapter 7: The Benefactor

Talia Hale was sitting with one of her betas in the living room. They were in a deep conversation while Cora was reading a storybook in the next room. Talia and Derek then walked into the house, back from school. Cora put down her book and went over to see them.

"Hi Laura. Derek," the nine year old said as she came over.

"Hey Cora," Derek mumbled out. "Someone here?"

"It's Ray," she told them.

"Ray?" Laura asked. "When did he get here?"

"The same time we did," Cora said. "He was with mom when she came to pick me up from school. But she asked to leave them alone to talk."

Laura looked into the room to see Ray was in a deep talk with their mother. He was a young man that worked as a contract painter in town and was very likeable. Ray was the last beta their mother had made close to three years ago but it felt like he had been a part of their lives a lot longer.

Derek just let a heated breath out. "Well, say hi to him for me. I'm going to drop my bag off and then go to meet with my friends."

Laura watched her brother hang his bag up on a coat hook close by the door before he headed out without another word. He was still a bit bitter about being banned from basketball from their mother. There was only a month of school left and while Laura would be graduating, Derek would be in his senior year next term but he wouldn't be able to play one last year with his team and forced to watch from the sidelines. He hadn't really talked with their mother since she gave him that punishment. She then looked down and noticed that Cora had a book in her hand.

"What are you reading?" she asked her little sister.

"Oh." Cora then held up the book to show Laura that it was the story White Fang. "It's one that's on my summer reading list. Mom said I would like reading this one."

Laura smiled at her as she had read that book before and thought it was funny considering what their family was. "You will. I know that I did," she said with a small laugh in her tone. But she looked up when she saw their mother and her beta walking towards them. "Why don't you go up to your room and keep reading and in an hour I'll take you to go off for a swim."

Cora smiled as she ran up the stairs as Talia and Ray made it into the foyer.

"Thank you for your time Talia," Ray told her as they stopped in front of the front door.

Talia stopped and folded her arms as she looked back at him calmly. "Of course. And, I'll take some time to give it some thought but I won't make any promises."

Ray gave her a nod as he went to open the door. "Good to see you Laura,"

"Ray," she said after him as he went to leave and close the door behind him. She then turned to look at her mother. "What was Ray here about?"

Talia went to head back into the living room. "He wanted to talk about his girlfriend Janice. He just proposed to her last night."

Laura squealed. "Oh my god. That's wonderful." But then she noticed the look on her mother's face and felt there was something else. "Wait, she didn't turn him down, did she?"

She shook her head. "No, she said yes to him. But, he came to ask if I would consider turning her and make her part of the pack."

"Oh." Laura didn't expect that one. "What did you say?"

"I told him that I would look into it. See if I think it would be a good idea to turn her or not. If I did then I would do it but only if she agreed."

"Well, why wouldn't it be a good idea to turn his fiancé? She seems strong to me and could be turned and make a fine addition to the pack with Ray."

Talia turned to face her daughter. "It's not always that simple Laura. Not everyone can be turned and not everyone that can be can handle it." Her tone went to that of an authoritative lecture. "The bite changes a person's life, forever. Not too many people can adapt to that kind of change. There are those that can come to accept change over time, even embrace and thrive on it. But that kind of change can also make a person self-loathing, cut off or even abuse the power. When it comes to expanding a pack, you have to take the person's nature into account more than their age, appearance or physical prowess. An alpha needs to know if a potential wolf is one that its pack can depend on and be one worthy of them guiding, trusting and protecting; or will it be one that brings the pack trouble and danger and will come to make the alpha regret turning them? Also, will it be the best thing for them or will they turn out for the worst? All important questions to ask before turning someone."

Laura narrowed her eyes as she dropped her gaze in thought at everything her mother just said. No doubt this was more grooming for the time when she must take over. "What if there's not enough time to consider all of that? How do I make the right choice then?"

Talia sighed as a sad smile snuck its way on her. "You won't always make the best of choices, I know I haven't. All I could tell you is to follow your instincts and trust in your feelings. Sometimes, the wolf part of you will know and sense things before the human part does and may choose for you. Sometimes even when you didn't realize you were looking to expand the pack. It knows both what you want and need, even if you might not."

* * *

The roof of the hospital was full of deputies and crime scene officials as a helicopter flew up ahead. One person was taking a full record of the scene including photos of the spot of blood on Sean Walcott's back. Sheriff Stilinski looked the scene over with a grim look on his face. He saw Parrish nearby and made his way over to him.

"Alright, let's get everyone off the roof. And see if you can stall the M.E. for five minutes. I've got experts of my own coming in to take a look."

Parrish just gave him a look. "You have experts on teenage cannibalism?"

When Parrish finished checking the house, he had gone to the meat locker and found that the Sheriff had brought his son and his friends to take a look. He claimed that they had followed him in their and told them to leave. Parrish saw that one of the bags had been wide opened and saw that body inside was half eaten. At first, he thought it had to be the work of a rabid dog but the Walcotts only owned a cat. On their way to the hospital, Stilinski had a hunch and asked for the bodies of the Walcotts be examined again, particularly their stomachs and Melissa took personal charge of the situation and found traces of human flesh. This meant that the Walcotts were cannibals and it explained why Sean hadn't eaten anything that was given to him.

Of course, she and the Sheriff knew that there was more to it than that.

Noah sighed as he looked back at his young deputy. "Five minutes Parrish," he said tirelessly.

He nodded and waved off to the others. "Alright guys," he called out to the others as he led them off of the roof leaving the Sheriff there alone.

Once they were gone, he sighed. "You can come out now," he muttered.

Stiles then jumped eagerly out of his hiding spot and landed right next to his father. Derek Hale stepped out of the shadows a little more quiet and subtly as he made his way for Sean's body. After Stiles had realized what was happening, he asked for Malia and Lydia to head on home while he raced for the hospital with his father and deputy not too far behind him. He found Melissa and quickly told him what happened and he called Derek to get some help with understanding what was going on.

Stiles stepped over to the body too and his eyes went to the red spot on the guy's back. "The axe guy?" he asked Derek.

"He actually uses a military tomahawk. According to Braeden anyway."

"Whoa, when did Braeden get in on this?" Stiles asked him.

"Who's Braeden?" the Sheriff asked them.

Stiles gave him a side look. "It's a long story dad."

"Which you will tell me in great detail later. Right now, we have to see to this. Scott said that he called himself a...Wendigo?"

"Cannibalistic shapeshifters," Derek told them, not taking his eyes off of the Wendigo the whole time. "But I haven't heard of them being in Beacon Hills for a long time. Must've been well hidden."

"I'll say," Stiles slurred out. "They weren't exactly storing beef in that secret meat locker of theirs."

Derek then rose his head up and took a deep sniff. "How many people did Scott say had been up here?"

Just Sean and the axe murderer," the Sheriff told them. "Oh, and get this. Apparently he has no mouth."

Stiles' eyes widened. "Are you serious?!"

His dad scoffed. He wish he wasn't. He looked over at Derek. "Have you ever come across this before?"

But Derek was focused on the edge of the roof, where he found some blood and the scent didn't belong to Scott or Sean. "There was someone else here. Someone young. Male."

The Sheriff narrowed his eyes. "You can smell his age?" Stiles shrugged. "What else can do you smell, his fear?"

He turned to look at them. "And his blood." Stiles went over to see what Derek had found and his eyes widened as the scent hit his nostrils. Derek turned to him. "You recognize the scent?"

Stiles kept his eyes on the blood. "Yeah, I do."

"Who is it?" the Sheriff asked his son.

But before Stiles could answer, his phone rang. He took it out and looked at the screen. "It's Scott."

* * *

Scott had been waiting on pins and needles outside his house as Stiles pulled up in his jeep.

"Scott, I just left my dad back at the hospital. He's with Derek and your mother now, going over the Walcotts' bodies."

"What did you tell him?" he quickly asked him. Scott was beyond scared right now.

"Not much. You hardly told me anything."

"Did you tell him about Liam?" he pressed.

Stiles gave him a tense look. "Scott, Derek caught Liam's scent on the roof. When I caught and recognized it, Derek caught me and outed me to my dad. I had to tell them it was Liam. They know he was there with you."

Scott just stopped and furiously ran his hand across his forehead. "Oh god," he gasped.

"Whoa," Stiles moved to put a calming hand on his shoulder. "Relax. We got this." He waited a second for Scott to calm down. "Where is Liam anyway?"

"He's upstairs."

"Doing what?'

Scott looked back at him nervously, trying to find the best words to answer that. "Lying down," he finally told him.

Scott took him to the bathroom and opened it to show Liam in the tub. He was bound completely in scotch tape and his mouth was taped shut. At the sight of them, he stared back at them frightened and hysterical. Stiles sighed and rolled his eyes as he went and closed the curtain despite Liam's muffled whimpers. The two of them went over to sit on Scott's bed and just stared ahead, lost in thought.

Scott was scared. He had just bitten a kid. Someone that was younger than he and Stiles had been when they had been bitten. Now, this kid was likely going to be a werewolf and his life was never going to be the same, and it was all his fault. Not to mention that Araya had given him that warning in Mexico just over a week ago. And the Sheriff knows that he had someone with him on the roof too. He didn't know what he was going to do.

Stiles didn't know what he was feeling right now. This wasn't exactly unfamiliar territory. He and Scott had been here before, with Isaac, Erica and Boyd when Derek had bitten them. But the fact that it was Scott who had bitten someone changed things. A lot.

"So, you bit him," Stiles muttered after a bit.

"Yeah," Scott breathed out.

"And you kidnapped him."

"Yeah."

"And you brought him here," Stiles said almost scolding.

"I panicked," Scott said defensively.

Stiles nodded. "This won't end with us having to bury pieces of his body in the desert, is it?" There was then a loud whimper from the bathroom to show that Liam had just heard that. Stiles rubbed at his face. "Okay, this is why I always come up with the plans. Your plans suck."

"I know," Scott huffed out. "That's why I called you. So, what do we do?"

The next thing Liam knew, Scott and Stiles grabbed him from the tub and placed him in a chair in the middle of Scott's bedroom.

"Okay, Liam," Stiles started as he pointed his finger at him to draw his full attention. "We are going to take the tape off. If you scream, it goes right back on. If you talk quietly it stays off, got it?" Liam narrowed his eyes at him but nodded just the same. "Okay." Stiles then reached for it and quickly yanked it off causing Liam to give a small start. Stiles let himself breathe. Scott was off to the side but seemed to be trying to avoid directly looking at Liam. Stiles could feel the anxiety leaking out of him like a running faucet. He guessed that meant that he would have to do most of the talking but he thought that might be a good thing. Out of the both of them, it was him that had the easier transition into all of this so that made him more suited to try and ease Liam into it. "Okay, are you okay?" he decided to lead off.

Liam gave him a glare. "Do I look okay?"

Stiles gave him a noticeable once over before clapping his hands together softly. "Okay, uh so Liam, I'm sure you have some, if not a lot of questions right now. I mean, you've seen some pretty scary and confusing things tonight. And some more scary and confusing things have happened to you and even scarier and more confusing things are going to happen because of it. Do you understand?"

Liam shook his head. "Not really."

"Good, that's good."

Scott narrowed his eyes as he gave Stiles a look. "I don't understand either." And he knew what Stiles was trying to say.

Stiles rolled his eyes. "Then maybe you should be the one to explain what you did to him."

Liam started looking frantically between the two of them. "Tell me what? What did you do to me?!" he said settling his eyes on Scott.

Scott braced himself. "Liam, what happened to you. What I did to you, which I had to do to save your life," he stressed out. "It's…going to change you."

Stiles nodded. "Well, unless it kills you." That made both Scott and Liam give him a look. Stiles shook his head. "But don't worry, there's not a too big of a chance of that actually happening." He remembered the story of Paige and the circumstances behind her not taking to the bite and Lydia told him about Deaton's explanation of the Supernatural Bell Curve. Stiles pulled Liam's sleeve back to reveal Scott's bite. Stiles and Liam's eyes widened at it and Scott turned to try and not look at what he did. "Well, it's not bleeding black." Stiles covered it back up and then leaned in and sniffed at Liam, which made both him and Scott be taken aback. Stiles then pulled away with a thoughtful expression on his face. "And it doesn't smell like he's dying. Your chances of pulling through seem pretty good," he quickly said with a smile and raising his hands for a double thumbs up at Liam.

That only made both Liam's nerves and fear rise and Scott gave Stiles a quick slap at the gut to make him stop. "Dude, enough," he said to him.

"What?" Liam gasped out in both fear and confusion.

He then bowed his head and his breathing quickened. Scott and Stiles tensed as they heard sniffles starting to escape from him.

"Wait, is he crying?" Stiles asked.

Scott felt his insides shrivel as Liam started to let some whimpers out. It made him look even younger than ever. "Look, Liam, it's going to be alright," he said quickly and nervously.

But Liam kept crying so Scott tried to help him out by ripping his bindings off to try and make him feel better.

Stiles was feeling off about this move. "Are you sure that's a good idea Scott?" he asked.

Scott didn't stop in untying him. "He's not our prisoner. And I don't think he'll be able to-"

But Scott never said what he thought Liam couldn't do because what he did do was shoot out of the chair and grab it. He then whacked Scott who was caught off guard as his attention was fully on Stiles. Scott fell down towards Stiles grabbed at Scott and broke his fall.

"Hey!" Stiles cried out as he went for grab Liam with his free hand.

Liam quickly moved to clobber Stiles in the face but Stiles quickly brought up his hand and caught his fist in his palm. Stiles felt a mix of dejavu and a warm tingle travel up his spine as he stared at the stopped attempt to punch him. Liam's eyes widened but he quickly looked down and then sent a hard kick at Stiles' ankle with his good leg while Stiles seemed dazed. His kick made contact and made Stiles twitch and let go of both Scott and Liam. As soon as he did, Liam then spun and grabbed the chair before bringing it down right at Stiles' head and caused him to fall down, on top of Scott.

"Stop!" Scott cried out as he tried to push Stiles off him.

Liam quickly bolted from the room into the hallway but he suddenly stopped. He looked down at his leg to realize that he was running almost normally. His hurt leg didn't feel broken anymore and felt like it was fighting off a slight cramp. But he turned around when he saw that Scott and Stiles were tumbling out into the hallway. Scott was breathing a little hard and Stiles was holding his head slightly but both were looking at him with annoyed glint in their eyes.

"Get him!" Stiles roared out.

The two of them then charged for Liam and he screamed as they practically tackled him. The force of it sent the three of them tumbling down and begin to fall down the stairs. They fell and tumbled all the way down the stairs until they ended up back on the ground floor. The three of them were all in a heap on the floor and were groaning from the pain of falling one full flight of stairs. Liam was on the top of them and he quickly recovered and moved to try and get away. His movements stirred the others and they moved to try and keep him from escaping. Limbs began to flail around and Stiles ended up grabbing a leg trying to kick its way out of his grip.

"I got him. I got him!"

But he noticed that it stopped moving and he looked to see that it was Scott's leg. He was glaring at him as Stiles' own foot was pressed up against his cheek. Scott pushed his foot off and Stiles quickly let his go and they looked around and saw that Scott's front door was wide open. Liam was gone.

"Your plan sucked too," Scott muttered out.

Stiles tilted his head. "Well, you're the one that wanted to untie him." Stiles moved to sit himself up straight.

Scott let out a defeated puff of air before he let himself lie flat on the floor.

* * *

Over at the loft, Peter was coming into the loft and shut off the alarm system.

"Derek, you here?" he called out.

There was no answer and he guessed that Derek was out trying to find Kate again. Peter had just come back from the vault and had moved to secure some of the legal papers that were left in there to see if nothing else had been taken. For one, he was surprised when he found adoption papers, belonging to Malia. It seemed that Talia had overseen her adoption into the Tate family behind his back. He was reading one of the forms when he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his chest but it wasn't from emotions. It was from the tomahawk that had flew right into him. Derek collapsed on the floor and was eventually looked down upon by a bald man with no mouth.

"Derek," he gasped out.

The Mute went to a device on his arm and pushed some buttons before a dark, computerized voice sounded. "Don't worry Peter, Derek is next."

* * *

Derek was staring away out a window as Scott and Stiles sat across from Scott's mom and Stiles' dad. The three of them had come over from the hospital when Stiles had called Derek and asked him to come over quickly. Unfortunately, he had been with their parents at the time and relayed the message to them. The three of them then rushed over and they were forced to tell them the whole story about tonight.

"Will he be okay?" Scott asked Derek after they finished explaining.

Derek finally tore his gaze from the window and turned to look at him. "How long ago did you bite him?"

"Almost four hours ago," Scott told him.

"How long does it usually take to know if it worked or not?" the Sheriff asked.

Derek thought back to Paige. "If it didn't take, then he would've shown signs at least two hours after." He then looked at Stiles. "You say that his scent was normal?"

Stiles nodded. "Yeah. And I checked his bite. It wasn't bleeding black blood and not even bleeding that much."

But Melissa narrowed her eyes. "And he got away from you two?"

They nodded.

"He surprised us," Scott told his mother.

"Then he ran away," Stiles finished.

"But, how did he run with that ankle?" she asked.

Scott and Stiles gave each other a look. They had forgotten about that. Liam's ankle had been hurt by Scott back at practice. He never should've been able to get away from them.

"It started healing," Scott muttered.

Derek crossed his arms. "Seems your bite took, and pretty fast too."

Scott leaned forward from where he sat. "This is all my fault."

"Scott, you were trying to save Liam's life," Stiles said to him.

"And I went ahead and ruined it instead," Scott slurred out dismally.

"No, you didn't." The Sheriff's face softened. "You gave him a second chance." He leaned back into the chair. "So, what usually happens now? With those that get bitten?"

"Right now, its best that he sleeps off this night, just like these two did. After that, well, that's up to the Alpha," Derek said as he let his gaze settle on Scott.

He looked away from his, and everyone else's gazes and got up to go on upstairs.

"Scott," Melissa called after him but he kept on walking.

"It's okay. It's his first time," Stiles told her lightly.

At that, both Melissa and the Sheriff gave Stiles a condescending look and Stiles then realized just how that sounded.

Derek sighed and rolled his eyes behind his closed eyelids before deciding to move this along. "What do you know about this kid anyway?"

"Not much," said Stiles mumbled. "All we really know is that he came from Devenford Prep."

"That's on the other side of Beacon County," said the Sheriff.

"His stepfather is also one of the new head doctors in the hospital," Melissa told them. "He told me that he felt his family needed a change."

Stiles then narrowed his eyes. "Hang on, when me and Scott spoke to him before practice he lied about getting transferred. When we called him out on it, he admitted that he got kicked out. In fact, he was scared and angry that we caught him in his lie."

"I'll do some digging at the station tomorrow," The Sheriff told them.

Stiles nodded before he narrowed his eyes. "What about the axe murderer with no mouth? He's still out there."

Derek sighed. "I'll look into that. You two should focus on the kid."

"And it's still a school night," Noah said as he picked himself up from the couch. "So, maybe it's time to call it one."

Raphael McCall had gotten the call about the murders at the hospital. Two people had been killed, a security guard and Sean Walcott, who it turned out was part of a family of cannibals. When he had reached the Walcott's home he was shocked at the sight of the bodies that the coroners saw had signs that they were being eaten, gradually. By the time he made it to the hospital, the Sheriff had already overseen much of the mop up of the latest murders. He got the report from Parrish and Haigh who had been left. Sean Walcott had killed and eaten the guard before his family's killer had tracked him down and killed him before he could escape. Since he was there, he decided to see Melissa but found that she had left early. She had been the one to find the deputy's body. He then hurried home to check on her and was now watching as the Sheriff, Stiles and Derek were all leaving the house with Melissa seeing them off.

* * *

Malia was sitting in Stiles' room where he had gone into his closet and come out with a rucksack. He threw it on the bed and reached in to reveal that they were full of high end restraints.

Malia gave them a slight glare. "I hate full moons," she said distastefully.

Stiles sighed. "They're not so bad, once you get hang of them. Like me and Scott."

She raised her eyebrows at him. "Last full moon, you weren't tied down because you and Scott didn't think you needed to be because you had control. Two hours in, you tossed Scott across the room and then ran out of the lake house. He chased after you and both of you ended up in the lake."

Stiles gave out a nervous smile. "Yeah, well it was my first full moon in a while. My tolerance was down and we should've guessed that I needed to re-adjust. But, I did. The rest of the night, I was okay...didn't even need Scott to handcuff me to the radiator though I think that decision was more for payback then safety." Stiles smiled at her but Malia still looked at him nervously and his face fell a bit. "It'll get easier Malia, I promise."

"It better," she said as she took one of the restraints that looked worn and a few good pulls away from ripping apart. "Because these won't hold much longer."

"Well, then lets make tonight the last night you have to use these," he said as he checked them on Malia. "Besides, we might need them for Liam."

"You guys sure he's going to turn into a werewolf?"

Stiles let out a deep sigh. "Looks like it. And it'll be his first full moon tonight."

He didn't say more than that as he turned and noticed his father come and stop at his doorway. Stiles then looked down and saw that he had Malia's wrist bound in the restraint that he had just fastened to a chain.

"Kids," his father sighed out.

Stiles then realized what must be going through his dad's mind, particularly after their embarrassing talk yesterday. "Oh, hey, uh, this is not what you think, at all."

His dad just shook his head. "I'm, just trying not to…eh, forget it," he said before he went off.

"There's nothing to forget!" he cried out after him.

Malia shrugged as she moved to take the restraint off. "I don't get it."

Stiles smiled. "Yeah, I told him that."

Better that she didn't know what his dad was trying not to imagine, because this day was going to be awkward enough already.

* * *

Derek spent the night trying to track down the Mute that Scott came across at the hospital but couldn't find any trace or scent of him away from the hospital. He guessed that this guy knew how to hide from them. He tried to head over to the Walcotts to see if he could find any clues there but came up short there as well. He decided to head on back for the loft and found his first solid lead, right next to his bleeding uncle. He had been stunned by the axe being plunged into him but seemed to have gotten enough strength to manage to pull the axe out of him. Derek helped Peter sit on the table as he took the axe and looked it over. There was a smell on it that was all too familiar and explained why his uncle wasn't healing and was still suffering side effects.

"The axe was laced with wolfsbane. I don't know the species so, we're going to have to burn it out." He then brought out his lighter and lit it up.

Peter glared at the flame in his hand. "I think I can handle a little fire," he stuttered out sarcastically. Derek smirked at him, just before he went and brought out a blowtorch which he instantly lit with it. Peter lost his wit at the sight of it. "Oh hell." Only a few seconds later, the loft was full of his screams. After they were finished, Peter was healed and helped back to his feet by Derek. "He said he was after you."

Derek narrowed his eyes. "How does a guy with no mouth say anything?"

Peter then moved over and pulled out a glove that seemed to have some kind of device on it. "With this."

* * *

Lydia was sitting in science class with Kira as she was scrolling through her notes. Kira was looking over her shoulder. It looked like a jumble of numbers, letters and symbols all jumbled together.

Kira's eyes nearly shot out at the sight. "These are your math notes? No wonder Malia's failing."

Lydia kept her gaze on it. "Some are my notes. The rest I think might actually be a code."

"Wait, you don't remember writing it?" Kira asked.

Lydia shook her head. "Not in the slightest. Which, according to Stiles, means my banshee side is trying to tell me something."

"What?"

"No idea. But, considering my drawing of a tree led us to the Nemeton, I should probably figure out what it means before _it_ tries to kill us," she added on a sarcastic note.

"Maybe it's like the enigma code the Allies always used. Remember, my dad was a WWII buff. My mom was, well in it," she said thinking back on her story over a few weeks ago.

Lydia just shook her head a bit. "I think this is a variation on something called the Vigenere Cipher."

Kira knew what that was. It was basically a code within a code. "Do you know how to crack it?" If anyone would know how, it would be Lydia.

Lydia looked over at her. "With a key."

Before they could say anything else, a set of keys were now dangling in front of them. They were being held up by Lydia's mother, who was their teacher. Lydia recognized those keys. They were the ones to their lake house.

She was looking at Lydia with a stern expression on her face. "Remember the rules. No more than six people allowed in the lake house. Stay out of the wine. And, if anything gets broken, it's getting added to your credit card debt."

"Fine," Lydia said as she reached for them.

But her mother pulled them away. "And lock up the basement. From all the scratch marks and cracks on the wall and floor I found, it looked like a pack of wild animals got in down and had a battle royal." She then handed the keys to them.

Lydia took them and shared a look with Kira. Last month, Malia had gone wild and started clawing out to try and escape the chains and restraints she had been bound in. Her loss of control seemed to effect Stiles and he unexpectedly lost control. He snapped by grabbing and throwing Scott across the basement. Their rolling about made Malia even more wild and aggressive too. Then Stiles ran off while he was heated up and Scott went after him while Kira had been left to try and calm Malia which had a bit of claw and sword action exchanged between them. Thankfully, she came out of it with only a few scrapes…mostly, while Scott cooled Stiles off with a grab and tackle into the lake.

"Maybe this one will be better?" Kira whispered to her.

Lydia just narrowed her eyes at her and Kira let out a heated sigh. With how things were going, chances are this one would be worse.

* * *

Mason got off the bus and rolled his eyes as he heard Garrett and Violet lightly argue with each other as they held hands. Garrett was telling her that he didn't want to spend another night watching movies at her house. He asked Mason if there was something going on that they could do but Mason shot the idea of doing something exciting down as they were freshman. Violet smirked as it seemed that she had won and told them that they were going to Mason's for a movie at nine. She then led Garrett away while Mason walked off and spotted Liam. He was running over to him and was panting slightly.

"Liam? Why weren't you on the bus?" he asked.

Liam panted a bit but got his breathing under control. "Uh, I ran."

Mason narrowed his eyes. "You ran? Three miles to school?"

Liam just shrugged. "I started running," he told him.

The truth was it wasn't a run...it was a dash. Last night, after he escaped Scott and Stiles, he had run all the way back home and he was amazed at how not tired he was from it. Last night had been so crazy that he had overslept and he had missed the bus. He then just ran to try and get to school on time and he hadn't needed to stop until he had actually made it there. While he might be a little tired, it wasn't as much as he thought he should be.

Mason then looked down at his feet. "Guess your leg's okay then?" He then noticed the bandage on his wrist. "What happened to your arm?"

"Uh," he started but then Liam's voice started to crack a bit. His heart started to beat a bit faster and harder. He felt himself started to burn up a little on the inside.

"Hey, are you okay?" Mason asked him.

Liam had turned away from his friend and looked up to see that Scott was standing across the courtyard. He was looking straight at him with a hard look on his face. Scott looking at him made him tense up and back away. "I'll talk to you later, alright. I have to get to class," he told Mason.

Mason watched Liam go off but turned around. He had noticed that Liam seemed freaked but he didn't see anything or anyone that could've made him feel that way. What Mason didn't notice was that there was someone else, staring at him with the same kind of calculating eyes. Stiles, and he was rolling those eyes before he moved them to look upon Liam as he was stumbling off.

"Scott, he's heading for the locker room," he said, knowing Scott could hear him.

" _Yeah, I know. I'll follow after him and you cut him off_ ," Scott told him from where he was moving after Liam.

"Got it."

Liam stumbled off inside but panicked when Scott started to move in after him. He tried to go faster but his path ahead became blocked by Stiles.

"Liam, stop right there," Stiles pointed at him as he moved for him.

Liam tried to find another way out but he was trapped.

"We need to talk," Scott told him.

"No, you need to back the hell off, okay!" he spat at them. "Both of you!"

Stiles brought his hands out to show that he wasn't going to touch him while Scott bared in on him.

"Liam, you need to listen. Please," Scott asked urgently, but gently. Liam still looked scared at the sight of him but he seemed to be calming down. Scott then let a small breath loose. Finally, he said, "Liam, we're brothers now."

Immediately, Stiles ducked his head and pressed his fingers against his eyes in irritation. "Oh god," he muttered.

Liam looked at Scott like he was crazy. "What?" he asked. "What are you talking about? We just met and you bit me."

Scott then decided to try something else. "The bite, the bite is a gift."

Stiles heard the thump in Scott's heart and he sighed. This had gone on enough. "Scott, just stop. Stop talking." He then moved over to him and pushed his friend aside. They needed a new approach. "Liam, you ran to school today, right? Three miles."

Liam's eyes widened. "What, you followed me from home?!"

"Alright, settle down you little runt," Stiles hissed as he put his hands out at him to try and get him to not be so loud. "And no. I heard you tell your friend that just a minute ago outside."

Liam shook his head. "Wait, how could you have heard us? We were alone and I didn't see you anywhere."

Stiles snapped his fingers and then pointed one over at him. "Yes. Good question. How did I hear you? And here's another good question, how did you run all the way here when your leg was practically broken just yesterday?"

"Because of you two," he accused at them.

"Well, to clarify, it was really because of him," Stiles pointing over at Scott.

Scott shoved him at his shoulder. He then looked down at Liam's leg and saw where Stiles was trying to take this. "Your leg isn't broken anymore Liam. It healed overnight. Doesn't that seem strange to you?" Scott took a moment to think that his own bite disappearing last year should've shaken him more than it did, but then again, he did have a lot of things going on back then. And he had been quite distracted by his new feelings for Allison.

Liam took a moment to look over from Scott to Stiles as they were looking intently at him, waiting to hear his answer. He looked down and gave his leg a another look. True, he was thinking that was weird but he guessed they were trying to make a bigger deal out of it to keep hounding him and just shrugged his shoulders. "I guess it just wasn't as bad as it looked."

"No, it was," Stiles said. "Liam, your leg was broken but it healed itself."

"And how did it do that?" Liam asked condescendingly.

"Because I bit you," Scott threw him. "It helped heal your leg."

Liam gave Scott a look. "Funny, I didn't think bites did that. Must've missed out on that part in biology class."

Stiles bit the side of his cheek to keep from smiling. He couldn't help but think that was totally something he would say.

Scott, who already had years of experience with sarcasm with Stiles as his best friend, brushed it off. "My bite isn't a normal one Liam. It changed you in more ways then one, and you could feel it already, can you?"

Liam glared at him. "What I'm feeling is annoyed because you two haven't stopped bothering me since we met at practice. Just leave me alone."

He moved to leave but Stiles jumped forward. "Whoa Liam, stop. Okay, what is happening to you now isn't just going to go away. You can't ignore it and need to start listening to us."

"No, what I need is to get away from you psychos. Nothing is happening to me."

Stiles' eyes went down to the bandage Liam had over his arm. "Really? So show us the bite."

Scott gave Stiles a look. He remembered that was the way Stiles had tried to get Scott to listen last year. By showing him that the bite on his arm had vanished. He then looked at Liam and looked at him with a pointed look.

Liam then impatiently ripped off his bandage. Liam's arm was clean. Scott's bite wasn't there anymore. "There, happy? Now, just go away."

He then stomped off and the two of them shared a look before they solemnly watched him disappear. It was official. Liam was a werewolf now. And he would be experiencing his first full moon night in just a few hours.

* * *

Noah Stilinski was at the station and approached Parrish. He gave him the task to find out what he could about the boys' new addition to their pack. Right now, he had some work to do about the side supernatural issue hitting the town.

"Sheriff?"

He looked up and saw Raphael McCall standing by his door frame. "McCall?" he said as he put the folder down.

Raphael noticed. "What you got there?"

"Oh, they ID'd most of the bodies we found at the Walcotts. Some missing people from the surrounding counties."

Raphael nodded. "Yeah, I heard. They seemed to have abducted a person every two or three weeks. All loners so that no one would really try and look for them. They were pros."

"No wonder no one knew about them." He meant that as being hidden as kidnappers and wendigos.

He then went and put his hands in his pockets. "Is there anything else you can tell me about the Walcotts?"

"There's not really any more to say," Noah sighed out.

Raphael narrowed his eyes. "Officially," he said pointedly. He then took a few steps further inside. "How about unofficially? What can all of you say then?" The image of the Sheriff, his son and Derek Hale leaving his home was replaying in his mind's eye.

That made the Sheriff raise his head at him. McCall seemed ready for a full confrontation. "What is that supposed to mean?" He knew that McCall had been circling around them lately but it seemed like he was reaching the end of his rope.

"I think you know exactly what I mean."

But before Raphael could say more, Parrish was at the doorway. "Parrish," he said a little louder than necessary to stop McCall from saying more.

"Sheriff," he said before he held up a folder. "I have it."

Noah rose his eyes at Parrish. "That was fast. I only asked you to look an hour ago."

"It wasn't too hard. Turns out that there was a record already in the system."

He then handed it over to him and Noah quickly opened it up. His eyes scanned the file and they widened as he read on. There were even pictures and they were shocking ones. He then looked over to see that the two of them were silently watching him and he closed it. "Thanks Parrish. I appreciate it a lot."

"It was no problem sir."

Noah then looked over at McCall. "I'm sorry but I have to get back to work." He politely saw the two of them out of his office. He went right for his phone and dialed up his son. "Stiles," he said as soon as he heard his son answer. He then turned and noticed that McCall was watching him and then moved to softly close his door.

Raphael kept his eyes on the closed office as he could make out the Sheriff pacing slightly as he spoke with his son. Something told him that the Sheriff was now sharing whatever was on the file that Parrish had given him with their sons. Maybe on whoever they were supposed to be looking for.

"Hey Parrish," he said as he went over to where the deputy had returned to his desk. "What exactly did you give to Sheriff Stilinski?"

The deputy shrugged. "Nothing special. Just a juvenile's report on somebody he had me run a background check on."

He narrowed his eyes. "Who?"

"Some kid named Liam Dunbar."

Raphael shook his head. "Who is Liam Dunbar?"

* * *

Scott and Stiles met back up with the girls by the school buses during lunch. After telling them that it was verified that Liam had turned, some silence came over them as they all took that in.

Malia broke the ice. "I'm not sharing my basement."

Lydia gave her a look. "Actually, it's my basement. And, my mom noticed that you tore it up last time."

"Alright, she's still learning," Stiles said in her defense.

She folded her arms and gave him a smirk. "And what's your excuse?" Lydia said back to him.

"Give me a break. It was my first full moon in a while. I was a little rusty. But, I'm better now. It's like riding a bike."

"Stiles, you can't ride a bike," Scott pointed out which made Stiles give him an annoyed look. Scott shook it off. "Anyway, we are going to use the boat house for Liam. It's got support beams. We can chain him to one of them."

"But how are we going to get him out to the lake house if he doesn't trust us?" asked Kira.

"My dad called and gave me his address. I say we just lie in the bushes and then jump him as he comes home," Stiles suggested. "Knock him out and drag him away. If he turns on the way and tries to run, we can just throw the little bastard into the lake." Stiles gave a pointed look to Scott at that.

"Sounds like a hunt. I'm in," Malia said raising her hand eagerly.

"We're not hunting or kidnapping him," Scott told them.

"Then let's be smarter. We tell him there's a party and invite him," Lydia suggested.

Seemed like a plausible plan.

Stiles narrowed his eyes. "You're going to ask out a freshman?"

"No, I'm done with teenage boys. But," she said, lightening up her tone to be playful and mischievous. "If we're going to play a trick on someone, let's use the trickster," she said looking over at Kira.

At that, all of them looked over at her and her eyes widened. "Who, me? No way. Not me," she said frantically shaking her head.

"Yes, you," Lydia pressed. "You know what they call a female fox? A vixen."

They all knew what that word implied. And Kira didn't think that was her in the slightest.

"Me?" she asked doubtfully.

"You can do it Kira. Be a vixen," Lydia told her with a smile.

They all smiled at her too.

"It won't be that hard Kira. He's a young hormone driven teenage werewolf. You should've seen this one when he first turned," Stiles said, pointing his thumb over Scott's way.

Scott's jaw dropped. "What? Come on, I wasn't that bad," he laughed out. But Stiles and Lydia gave him a look which sobered him a bit. "And you weren't?" Scott mumbled at him.

"Yeah but the right head was calling the shots," Stiles stated proudly. That made them all give him an awkward look.

"I've never done anything like this before," Kira explained, trying to make them nip this plan. "What if he doesn't even look at me?"

But Stiles looked at Kira with confidence. "Kira, you'll do great. I know it," he said to her gently. "You got this." That made them all smile at Stiles before they all looked at Kira in encouragement. He had warmed quite a bit to her in the last couple of weeks following being freed from his possession.

At the sight of them all having faith in her, she went and took a deep breath before she nodded. "Okay."

But then Stiles' face fell a bit. "Kira, just keep an eye out when you're alone with Liam, okay?" he told her with some concern.

That threw them a bit, especially Scott.

* * *

Derek placed the glove with the device attached along with the tomahawk on the Sheriff's desk as he explained how and where he got them.

Noah went and picked the glove up. "I still don't get how this guy has no mouth. How, how can he eat?"

Derek couldn't help but think that he was definitely Stiles' father. "Peter didn't really get a chance to ask. He was fighting him off with a tomahawk buried in his chest."

"Yeah, but who runs around with a tomahawk?"

They didn't notice that his office door had been opened and Parrish had listened in on his question.

"I carried one for IED removal in Afghanistan," he told them. They were stunned silent when they he started walking in. "It's military," Parrish said giving the tomahawk a once over before setting his sight on the glove's device. "So is that."

Derek couldn't help but think that this deputy might help them make some sense of all this. "Do you know what it's used for?" he asked him.

Parrish put the tomahawk down and went for the device, giving it a once over. "Cutting edge. But this one looks like it's been modified."

Both Noah and Derek gave each other a small look. For the Sheriff, the young deputy was someone that he was finding both dependable and trustworthy. Lydia had told him of their conversation before finding the bodies at the Walcotts. He had a unique kind of outlook from the other deputies that could be their best chance to find this mute. As for Derek, he remembered how Parrish had treated him when he had been de-aged. He seemed like a genuine nice person that seemed to want to do his part to help. And he did seem to know more about the Mute's tools then they did.

The two of them ended up giving each other a subtle nod in mutual agreement.

Noah slowly went over and closed the door to his office. "Show us," he told him.

After the door had closed, it drew the attention of Deputy Haigh. He saw that the Sheriff, Derek Hale and now Parrish were talking in hushed whispers over something on the desk. He saw the light reflected off the tomahawk's surface and then got his phone out and went to make a call.

Parrish was hacking the console on the glove with the Sheriff and Derek watching him work silently from behind. Parrish was entering code sequences before he seemed to have finally found something. "Alright, I think I have an IP address," he told them.

"That means we can find him, right?" asked the Sheriff.

"Definitely. Especially if-" But Parrish was cut off when the glove started to move of its own accord.

"What was that?" Derek asked.

But Parrish was distracted by something new appearing on the screen. "I think I found a message. Does anyone recognize the handle, Benefactor?"

No, they did not. A moment later, a set of words appeared next to the name saying **Money Transferred**.

"What does that mean?" Derek asked him.

Noah Stilinski straightened himself up. He knew exactly what that meant. "It means that this guy's not just a killer. He's an assassin."

Derek tensed up. If this mute was an assassin, then he was probably hired to kill a family full of wendigo. There was also the fact that the assassin was still around. That means he was after a new mark. And Derek had a feeling that he knew who. The Mute attacked Peter but didn't kill him. It was possible that he was now after him. If that was the case, the question now was, Who hired him? He could only think of one person. Kate. "How long until you could find him?" Derek asked.

Parrish was still at work. "Maybe another minute or two."

* * *

Liam was walking out of class with his friend Mason when he stopped as he suddenly stopped.

Mason stopped too. "Liam?"

But Liam didn't answer him. His eyes were on the staircase ahead of them, or rather on who was walking down them. A pretty junior girl was slowly stepping down them in heeled boots and the light from the nearby window seemed to be hitting her in a way that made her almost glow. As she was coming down, she seemed to be looking right at him. As his eyes caught hers, he felt something stir within him. He felt himself heating up from the inside and his heart was definitely beating a few ticks faster. She was focused on him, so focused that she slipped and fell at the last step. Liam then snapped out of it and ran over to her.

"You okay?" he asked her.

Kira then lifted her head to smile at him, trying to make it look like she was comfortable on the floor. "Yeah, fine. Uh, want to go to a party tonight?"

Liam was stunned at the forward question but he found himself quickly nodding.

Scott and Stiles were watching all this unfold, down the hall with bemused expressions.

"A bit unorthodox, but hey, whatever works," Stiles shrugged.

Scott kept listening and nodded. "She got him. He's going with her tonight."

"Good. Not the way we thought our Turniversary would turn out, is it?" Stiles asked giving him a solemn look.

"I wouldn't exactly say that I expected much good to come from this day," Scott sighed. "And quit with that name already. Come on, we better get going."

He then turned to leave and Stiles huffed but followed.


	8. The Benefactor part 2

Chapter 8: The Benefactor part 2

Stiles pulled his jeep up to the house and waited for Scott to climb inside. Scott could already feel the full moon's effects and it wasn't even at its highest point yet. He looked over at Stiles and saw he seemed relatively at ease. His brow was narrowed a bit in concentration but other than that, he seemed calm. Stiles himself saw that Scott looked little worse for wear though he seemed stiff after he closed the door behind him.

"You okay?" Stiles asked him as Scott settled in the seat

"Yeah," he huffed out. "You?"

Stiles nodded his head. "Yeah." He then went and started to drive them off to pick up Malia. As he was driving Stiles looked over to see that Scott was staring off. "Scott, it'll be okay. It's not like this will be the first time we help someone during their first full moon."

Scott let a deep breath out. "It's different this time."

"Because you're the one that turned him?" Scott shrunk a bit more into himself. Stiles' face softened a bit.

Scott shook his head as he kept his gaze out at the passing houses, not really looking at anything. "I still can't believe I actually did that. Turned someone."

"Well Scott, what were you supposed to do? Let Liam fall to his death?"

"I could've found some other way to save him. He was right. The only reason he was even there was because I broke his ankle and sent him to the hospital."

"Scott…you can't be too hard on yourself. Besides, you had to know this was eventually going to happen, right?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Well, you're an Alpha," he reminded him. "Alphas make their own packs, you know that."

"I already have," he argued softly.

But Stiles shook his head. "Not really Scott. I mean, me, Lydia, Malia, Kira, we all just kind of came to you ourselves. We volunteered. You never recruited us. I don't think the alpha in you felt it was official until you made one for yourself. One to take in from the ground up."

"Yeah, well with Liam, I don't think I'm off to a great start."

"Maybe that's because you were taking leaves out of Peter and Derek's books." Stiles then gave Scott a condescending look. "Catching Liam's attention and then pulling a disappearing act, that was pure Peter and we know how his reign as Alpha turned out. And that whole 'The Bite is a gift' and 'We're brothers now', Derek tried that and it didn't exactly make you trust and run to him for help as soon as he said that to you."

"Then what I am supposed to do?"

Stiles shrugged. "Hey, you're the Alpha, you tell me what you're going to do."

Scott let his head roll helplessly against the window as they drove on.

* * *

Kira pulled her car up to Liam's place to pick him up. As Kira drove, she had the radio on with at a pretty low standard volume so she could try to speak to Liam.

"We're almost at Lydia Martin's lake house. Well, actually it's her grandmother's lake house but she's dead so it's okay." Her eyes then widened. "I mean it's not okay that she's dead. Unless she was in pain," she finished with a smile.

But Liam hardly paying much attention to what Kira was saying. He was shrinking and cringing as he felt that the music was blasting out at a near deafening volume. He went to try and muffle the sound in his left ear. "Can you turn the music down?" he said a little loudly.

Kira gave a look at the radio and saw that it was already pretty down so she thought she must've heard wrong. "You want me to turn the music up?"

Liam then blinked and the music's volume dropped suddenly before Kira could even touch it. What had that been about? Suddenly, he had flashes of his confrontation with Scott and Stiles earlier that day. Trying to warn him. But he tried to blink it all away when his phone buzzed. He went and saw that Mason had sent him a text, asking where he was. He then started to type his response. "Uh, who did you say was coming to this party?" he asked.

"Oh, uh, everyone," she said with a wide smile.

Liam narrowed his eyes. He didn't know why, but something in him was saying that Kira just lied to him. He let his eyes wander off and he found himself looking at his face in the car door window next to him. His face was illuminated by the light of the full moon and he found himself feeling warmer, breathing harder, and getting angry.

Kira noticed how Liam was acting and moved to drive them to the lake house a little faster.

* * *

Scott was out in the foyer of the giant lake house checking on his phone as Stiles was placing all the chains and restraints out in the living room with Malia and Lydia looking at them all.

Lydia went and picked one up. It was all worn and torn. "There is no way that this is going to hold for much longer."

Stiles sighed. "It'll have to hold for tonight. I can't really afford to replace it right now." He then picked up a bag and unzipped it to reveal chains inside. "Luckily, Derek gave me some chains that he had left over. It should help in holding Liam tonight."

Scott then walked over as he pocketed his phone. "Kira just texted. She picked up Liam and they're on their way."

"She's not having any problems, is she?" Stiles asked him.

"No. She said it's all going fine." Scott then narrowed his eyes. He could smell his friend's concern and anxiety. "Stiles, is everything okay?" Stiles seemed to try to avoid not looking at him directly. "This afternoon, you told Kira to be careful when she was going after Liam. Are you worried about him turning sooner?"

"No, that's not really it."

"Well, what's going on?"

Stiles looked at all of them and saw that they were looking curiously at him and he sighed. "Well, I didn't want to tell you guys yet because this day wasn't coming up to a great start but I guess you should know now. When my dad ran a background check on Liam, he found something."

Scott saw the seriousness in his eyes. "This is going to be bad, isn't it?"

"Oh yeah. Apparently, Liam has a record."

"Why?" Lydia asked.

"What did he do?" Scott asked him. All sorts of scenarios started running through his mind of the guy he just went and turned into a werewolf.

Stiles turned to Scott. "Do you remember when Liam lied to us about being transferred from Devenford Prep?"

Scott nodded. "Yeah. And after we called him out on it, he admitted that he got kicked out instead."

"I know why Liam was kicked out of his old school." Stiles then took out his phone and showed them all a picture of a car. It was a wreck. The windows were smashed in and the body had dents everywhere. **This Is Your Fault** was scratched into the car.

"What is that?" Malia asked.

"That is his teacher's car after Liam took a crowbar to it."

Lydia rose her eyebrows up. "A crowbar? Sounds a lot handier than a baseball bat."

"I wouldn't go that far," Stiles mumbled as he put his phone away.

"Why would Liam do that?" Scott asked, shocked that a kid would just do something that horrible.

"According to my dad, he and one of his teachers had an argument. He gave Liam a hard time, tried to discipline him, so he took it out on his car."

Scott's eyes widened. "Just over an argument?"

"And, what happened with Liam?" Lydia asked him. "How much trouble did he get into?"

"Well, he got expelled, obviously. And his parents had to pay for the damages. But, they decided to let him off easy in light of his condition."

"What condition?" Scott asked him.

"The kid's got some serious anger issues, clinically wise." Stiles sighed. "Liam has IED."

"IED?" asked Malia. "What's that?"

"Intermittent Explosive Disorder," Lydia told them. "It's a mental symptom where someone is quick to extreme anger and rage. Sometimes the slightest of things could set them off."

"That's why I was worried about Kira. Liam was practically a walking time bomb, pre-werewolf. With the full moon, we have to be really careful to not let him around people or he could hurt someone," Stiles slurred out. "Scott, I think if we're going to try and contain Liam, we might need to knock him out first. Then we chain him up. Tight."

Scott ran his hand frantically over his forehead but no one said anything else as they all heard the sound of a car pull up.

Liam got out of the car and gave the lake house a look. It seemed like a pretty big and fancy looking place. Perfect for a party, except for the fact that there didn't seem to be any other cars or people around save for two other cars. The house was dark and quiet.

"Where is everyone?" he asked.

"They're here," Kira said, trying to not to look or sound deceptive. "It's a small party."

Liam narrowed his eyes. "I thought you said that everyone was coming?"

Kira tried not to panic as she remembered that she had said that. "Uh, they are," she said trying to remain upbeat. "They're late, we're early, so we better hurry." She then moved to hook Liam's shoulder and moved for the front door.

They then stepped inside but Liam froze about two steps in. Up ahead were Scott and Stiles, along with Lydia and Malia. They were all staring at him, side by side. He then looked back and saw Kira move to shut the door behind them and stand in front of it, cutting him off. He then moved to glare at the group ahead. "What is this?"

"Think of it like an intervention," Stiles started up. "You have a problem Liam, a serious problem."

"And we're the only ones that can help you," Scott said stepping forward.

But Liam went and folded his arms as he kept his glare on Scott. He looked as unconvinced and unwilling to listen to them as ever. "Help with what?!" he spat out.

Lydia turned over to look at Scott. "Uh, maybe you're just being too subtle. Why not just straight up tell him what's going on?"

Scott moved to catch Stiles' eye, then Malia's and finally Kira's. They were all looking him right in the eye, as if leaving the final decision up to him. Scott just sighed and decided to come on out with it. He then "Liam…you're a werewolf."

Liam lost his glare as he blinked at him in confusion. "What?" The next couple of minutes, they all started to explain about the supernatural and what each of them were. Liam was silent during the whole thing until they finished. "Okay, let me see if I got this straight. Werewolf," he said pointing at Scott before moving to Malia. "Werecoyote." He then pointed at Lydia. "Banshee." He then looked over at Kira. "Fox?"

"Kitsune," she shrugged. "But fox works," she finished with a small smile.

Liam then looked over at Stiles. "And you, what are you again?"

"Well, I was a werewolf but it looked like I had turned human again though it turned out that I was really possessed by a thousand year old dark spirit. It was pretty evil."

"So, what does that make you now?"

"Better?" Stiles said, a little unsure himself.

Liam then noticed the restraints on the table. "Are those for me?" he asked, trying to contain his anger.

"No, they're for me," Malia said to him.

Stiles then bent over and lifted the duffle bag with the chains visible through it's open zipper. "These are for you." He then let them go where they fell to the floor with a heavy flop.

"Hey, watch the floor," Lydia told him. She didn't want her mother to be on her again.

Liam shook his head. "You're not putting those anywhere near me," he said defiantly.

Malia gave the chains and then Stiles a look. She saw that he seemed ready to pounce at a moment's notice. "Uh, yeah I think he is."

"Oh really?" Liam challenged her.

"Better him than me," she spat at him before she flashed her blue eyes at him.

Liam took a step back as his eyes widened. But he saw that no one else was reacting to the fact that Malia's eyes were now glowing. "How did you do that?"

"You'll learn," Scott told him calmly. "But first you need to get through the full moon. That's what the chains are for. To keep you and everyone around you safe."

Liam's glare returned. "The moon is already out. It's been out and I feel fine."

Everyone tensed as they looked at him. They could all feel the hard steel in his voice as he had said that.

Stiles tilted his chin a bit up as he listened to his heart. "You're lying to us again Liam."

"What?" he spat out.

Scott narrowed his eyes at him. "You don't feel fine. You've already started to feel something, haven't you? Maybe hearing and smelling things you shouldn't or feeling small bursts of pain in your sides or a pressure on your head," he said recalling his own first full moon.

Liam pushed down the feeling of fear at how Scott knew exactly how he'd been feeling before he got here. He couldn't believe what they were telling him. "No," he said to them. It was crazy. They were crazy and were just trying to make him as crazy as them. "What I'm hearing and smelling is the crap you've been trying to sell me and I'm feeling that I'm surrounded by a bunch of nut jobs."

"That was witty," Stiles slurred out. But he stayed alert as he could hear Liam's heartrate pick itself up even more. "Liam, I told you before that you can't ignore this. Especially not now. You're changing. We can all feel it, and we know that you can feel it too."

Scott nodded. "You're going to stay here with us and we'll help you try to hold out for the rest of the night."

"No, you people don't tell me what I can and can't do! You guys are all out of your freaking minds! I don't know how you did that eye thing and I don't care!" he spat at Malia. His tone started to rise every passing second. "I'm walking out the door right now and if any of you try to stop me-

But he never got to say what would happen if they did. For the next moment, there was a quick leap and Liam's arm was grabbed before Stiles had shifted and roared right at him. Liam's anger had been getting so strong that Stiles was practically choking on it. The full moon was turning everything up for him and his dulled chemo reading sense of smell was as strong as ever. He could tell that Liam was starting to feel cornered and he knew what happened when animals felt cornered. He had to do something and his wolf stepped in with the answer. Stiles completely shifted was now face to face with Liam, the sound and sight shocking him out of this agitated state he was building up into himself and to make him finally start to listen to them.

"You'll do what?" Stiles said through his fanged mouth. Liam's face paled as he caught eye contact with Stiles bright and glowing blue eyes. The girls all went and sent a tired look Stiles' way. He looked over and noticed them. "What?" he shrugged as he looked over at each of them doing it. "He had to calm down and it was the best that I could think of." He then turned to Lydia. "You're the one who said not to be so subtle."

That made Lydia roll her eyes at him but Malia smiled at him while Kira tried to smother a small giggle.

Liam jumped in shock and surprise at the werewolf now having a firm grip on him. Stiles' face was morphed into an animalistic form with pointed ears, fangs and fur at the sides. "What…how?" was all he found himself managing to get out. Liam's eyes went over to look at Stiles' hand gripping his arm and his eyes widened even more at the sight of claws at the end of his fingers. Stiles noticed and then let him go. Liam started to back away and ended up losing his footing and landed on his rear.

Scott calmly had kept his gaze firmly on Liam the whole time. He could see that Stiles managed to make him ready to pay attention and he started to move slowly for him. Stiles turned to look over at him but Scott made sure to keep his eyes solely on Liam. "Now do you believe us?" Scott asked him gently. Liam turned to look at Scott, his breathing becoming frantic, before he went and grabbed his ears and gave a start. Scott moved to bend over to him. "Liam, you okay?"

"It hurts," Liam said squeezing his ears even harder.

"Is it the moon?" Kira asked him. "Is he changing?"

"Scott!" Stiles gasped as he shifted back to normal. "There are people coming!"

Scott let his hearing branch out and heard it too. "A lot."

Lydia quickly went to the window where she could make out headlights from multiple cars. "What did you do?" she asked.

Liam looked over at Kira. "You said it was a party. I thought I could invite someone."

"Who did you invite?" Scott quickly asked.

"My friend Mason," he told them.

"And who did Mason invite?" Stiles asked.

Lydia looked away from the window. "Looks like he invited everyone."

Liam then gasped as he saw that his hands were now sporting claws that looked identical to the ones that Stiles had just a moment ago. "Ahh," he screamed out as he started to run them down the floorboards.

The scratching made Lydia jump. "The floor. Get him off the floor," she told them.

Scott and Stiles then moved to grab him as he then let out a roar of his own, his new golden eyes making their first appearance to them.

"We need to get him to the boathouse now!"

Stiles grabbed the duffle with the chains with one hand as he helped Scott manhandle Liam out of the room but Malia then started to bend over.

"Stiles!" Malia cried out.

"What?" he cried out as he kept a firm grip on Liam. Malia then roared out as she started to shift herself. "Oh no," he muttered. "She needs to get to the cellar."

Kira moved over to him. "Here, let me take him. You take her."

Stiles sent her a thankful smile before he handed Scott the duffle. He and Kira moved to drag Liam away while Stiles went to grab Malia.

"Wait, what am I supposed to do with the hordes gathering outside the door?!" Lydia spat at them.

"Lydia, who throws the best parties in Beacon Hills?" he argued back at her.

"What?" she asked in a cracked voice. "Me, obviously!"

"Alright, then throw a party." He then went and helped move Malia down towards the cellar.

Lydia huffed out in complete annoyance before she moved for the door and opened it to reveal over three dozen people waiting outside with Mason at the front.

"Hey, are we in the right place?" he asked her.

"For the party?" Garrett finished asking.

Lydia gave them all a look before her face brightened with her trademark smirk of confidence. "Absolutely."

At that, everyone burst out into cheers before Lydia moved over to let them all start to come on in. She sent a small glare down the way that all of her friends vanished to.

* * *

Cora was tossing on the bed, her foot was chained to the side post just in case. The pain in her head was spreading everywhere and she could feel it all the way to the tips of her fingers and toes. She was sweating and her eyes were shut tight as she tried to bare through it all. It felt like her insides were being thrashed around. Her child was having a fit and didn't seem to be having an easier time than she was. But then, suddenly, the baby slowed down in its movements and began to settle down. Cora found herself breathing deep breaths as the pain in her skull was loosening up and she felt at ease.

"Wow," she muttered as she went to wipe her sweaty brow. "You're a feisty one, aren't you?" she said down at her stomach. "You're finally giving your mother a break?"

What she didn't know was at that moment, across the country, the child's father had let out a roar to try and get another feisty young wolf to calm himself down. It seemed to have more of an effect that anyone had realized.

* * *

Parrish had managed to track the address and found the Mute's location: The High School. Noah and Derek wondered why this guy would go there, in the middle of the night. What they knew was that they had to bring him in.

"We'll take my car. It'll be faster," Noah told Derek as they went into the parking lot.

Derek gave the man a look. "I'll go by myself. I can handle this guy."

"Not alone," the Sheriff argued with him.

But Derek again tried to reason with him. "I'll be alright. Besides, if something were to happen to you then I would be in even more danger from your son than a psycho with an axe."

"Well sometimes Stiles easily lets himself forget whose the one that's supposed to protect who and needs reminders now and then. Besides, I'm still the Sheriff here and my job isn't to let murderers run free in my town. Normal or Supernatural. So, you coming or not?" he asked as he opened the door and climbed into the driver's seat.

Derek let a small sigh escape him before he moved into the passenger seat. Derek let himself give the man a good look. He wasn't seeing him as the Sheriff right now but as the grandfather of his future niece or nephew. He couldn't help but feel that Cora's kid was lucky to have one like him. When everything was said and done, Derek would have to leave to be there for his sister and he didn't know when would be the next time he would be coming back, if at all. Cora didn't want to tell Stiles about the child yet, and neither did Derek. But, he felt that someone here should know. Maybe he should tell Stiles' father?

They made it to the school and found that the place seemed to be quiet and empty. Drawing his gun, the Sheriff led the way in through the front entrance with Derek alert and ready at his side. He also had a flashlight on and carefully was scanning the halls as they walked.

"You know," Derek said as they stepped further inside. "Just because the wifi was tracked back to the school, doesn't mean that he's still here."

"True," Noah grunted out. "But I've seen enough things happen in this school to keep a gun in my hand." He then paused and shined the light to the ground. "Like blood."

Blood was leaking out from a closed classroom door and it seemed like it was somewhat fresh.

"That doesn't make sense," said Derek surprised.

"Yeah, no kidding."

Derek shook his head. "No, that's not what I mean. I should've caught the scent before we walked in." The Sheriff gave him a look before Derek shook it off. He would wonder about that later.

Derek quickly went to the door but the Sheriff grabbed him and stopped him before he could open it. "Hold it. You nervous makes me nervous." He didn't like this. The setup was too obvious. Like someone wanted the blood to be spotted quickly. He shined his light into the door's window but couldn't see if anyone or anything was in there. He then went to slowly and carefully turn the doorknob and opened it gently. Noah stopped when he caught the sight of string tied to the handle on the other side.

Derek took a look through the crack and saw something on the floor behind it. "It's an explosive. Claymore." The Mute had set a trap. Derek then turned around and hopped to his feet. "Get down!" he yelled as he pulled the Sheriff out of the way just as an axe flew through the air and lodged itself into the wall where the man's head had been a moment ago.

The Mute then jumped out of his hiding space and brandished his spare tomahawk out.

* * *

Scott was holding Liam down and against a support beam at the boat house while Kira was quickly trying to wrap the chains around him. They had managed to wrap it around his torso three times when Liam started fighting back. Scott was having trouble holding him down. Kira flinched back when Liam started barking at them and was starting to push against Scott.

"I got him, get his hands," Scott told her as he put more of his weight into restraining him.

But Kira never got the chance as Liam pounced and freed himself from the beam. He had Scott on his back and looked ready to start tearing him apart. Scott was struggling as he didn't want to hurt Liam and his hesitation made way for Liam to raise his claws up to rip at Scott's face. Kira saw it and grabbed the nearest thing she could find, an oar, and swung it hard at Liam's head. Her blow forced him off and he landed on his back and lay there, motionless.

"Oh god, I didn't kill him, did I?" she asked frantically.

Scott went over to Liam and saw that he was still breathing, just unconscious. "No, he's out cold," he assured her. "I guess Stiles was right. We were going to have to knock him out first if we wanted to restrain him."

"Yeah," she sighed. "I hope he's having better luck."

* * *

Malia was sitting against the wall as Stiles was calmly fastening the restraints. They could faintly hear the sounds of the party taking place above them but they paid it little mind.

Stiles managed to get the last restraint fastened on her wrist. "Tight enough?" he asked her.

She then lifted her head to show that she was shifted but she was trying to keep herself paced. "Tighter," she said in a low voice.

Stiles didn't even flinch as he moved over and tightened it even more. "That should do it." He then got up and looked over to the window where some light from the full moon was pouring in. He closed his eyes and inhaled. The light was hitting him and he could already feel the effects working their way inside him, pulling his wolf to unleash itself and lash out to its primal tendencies to give in but Stiles was lightly breathing and had firm images of his friends and father running through his mind. He wasn't going to try and hide from the full moon, but let himself bask in it and embrace it's warm pull. He let out a small sigh as he exhaled and opened his eyes. "I hope Scott doing okay with Liam."

Malia shrunk into herself. "If you want to go to them, you can go."

But Stiles shook his head as he turned back to face her. "I'm not going to leave you. Besides, Scott has Kira with him and they should be okay. Also, to get to them means going passed a party filled with 50 loud freshman and a very pissed off Lydia. I'll be way safer staying here."

Malia let her head fall back to lay against the wall as she let her eyes roam up towards the sounds of all the people moving about upstairs. Stiles let his own eyes wander up to the ceiling.

* * *

The lake house was filled with the sounds of music and rowdy teenagers as they were enjoying the party that was set up quite quickly. The only one there that wasn't really having a good time was Lydia as she was acting guard to make sure that the lake house didn't get more wrecked than it was sure to be from the infant werewolf and wild werecoyote surely tearing into right now. She froze when she got to the kitchen and found a man wheeling in a large keg.

"Okay," she stepped over to him. "I didn't order a keg of beer." She then made a face at it. "Especially not domestic."

"Somebody ordered it," the man told her. He then looked around at the teens partying. "You're telling me that no one around here wants a drink?"

Lydia looked down and saw that someone put a glass of wine next to her laptop. "Who put this here?!" she shouted out. "This laptop costs $2000." She then grabbed a bottle of wine from Garrett, who gave her a look. "That bottle of wine is four hundred," she told him sternly. Lydia then went back to the delivery man. "How much?" He handed her a receipt. Her eyes stiffened at the bottom. "What's this extra hundred dollars?"

"That would be the due except charge. For under 21." He then gave her a small wink.

Lydia sighed and went off to put the bottle away. Her head raised up to find that Mason was heading up the stairs for the second floor. She had told everyone to keep to the first floor and not to head down or upstairs. "Let me get you some cash," she told him before she ran to head him off.

As she left, Garrett went over to the delivery guy. "I opened the wine. I should probably pay for the keg." He then went and handed some money to him and the guy dropped the keg off of the dolly, in front of him.

The delivery guy then left the house and began to move off for where he had parked his car on the road. He reached it but found that one of his tires was now flat.

"Oh come on, you've got to be kidding me," he said throwing his dolly off to the side. "Son of a bitch. Son of a-" But then he stopped. His breathing was intensifying and he felt a pressure on his head. He then looked up to the full moon and his eyes shined gold at the sight of it. He then looked down and saw that his hands were started to sport claws. He then bit the inside of his cheek. "Three things can not be hidden. The sun, the moon, the truth." He kept repeating that until he felt his breathing start to calm down and the pressure begin to quell.

Once he was relaxed, he went to his knees, sighing in relief. But before he could get back up, he felt a cord wrap around his neck. Then it was being pulled on, cutting his air off. He tried to rip it off but the person choking him pulled harder and it began to glow as it grew hotter. After a moment, his head was lopped off and rolled a short distance away from his body.

Standing above it was Violet and she went to pocket her cord and then grabbed her phone. She took a photo of the body and sent it out. She then went off, back to the house. Once she was inside, she let a huge smile come over her face as if she hadn't just killed someone a moment ago. She found Garrett who was checking his phone.

"What are you smiling about?" she asked him as she wrapped her arms around him.

"Our friend just sent me a text."

He then showed her the message. **The money has been transferred to your account**. It was from the Benefactor. They then celebrated with a kiss.

* * *

Liam was tightly bound to the support of the boat house and Kira was calmly watching him as he sat there, sleeping his way through the full moon. Scott was sitting nearby, watching him with a somber look on his face.

"He looks so young," Kira said.

"He is. He's only fifteen."

"What are we going to do with him?"

"We're going to help him," he told her.

"What if he doesn't want our help?"

Scott paused at that. When this all started for him, Derek had found and told him that he wanted to help him but he tried his hardest to pull away from him. From Stiles too when he tried to help him understand what was happening. But eventually, Scott realized that he needed their help. Liam will too. "He will," he said as he kept his gaze on Liam's calm and sleeping face.

He then looked over at the house and smiled.

"What?" Kira asked him.

"I could hear the music from the house."

"What are they playing?" she asked him.

"Electronic," he smiled at her.

Kira sighed. "I wish they play more slow songs at parties. At my old school we always had a few."

"Why do you like the slow ones?"

She started to twiddle her fingers. "I was always better at slow dancing," she admitted bashfully.

Scott's smiled widened and he held his hand to her. "Come here."

They got up and he went over towards the water with her. The full moon was in sight nearby and it was reflecting off of the water. It had a mystifying effect that Scott thought was perfect for what he had in mind. He reached for his phone and chose a nice slow song to play. He then left it to the side and went over to Kira.

She smiled but looked over at Liam. "What about him?"

Scott looked over and saw that Liam didn't seem like he would wake up any time soon. "He'll dance with me next time," he shrugged.

Kira let a small laugh loose before she wrapped her arms around him and they started to sway to the music. "How are you so good at staying in control on the full moon?" To her, Scott seemed like everything was normal. As if it were just another night and not one of a full moon.

"Well, it's all about making sure that my pulse doesn't get too fast and my heart rate doesn't go up."

"So, you've mastered it?" she asked a little mischievously.

He grinned. "Still takes a lot of concentration."

"So, if something distracts you-" Kira then went and gave his cheek a small kiss.

Scott's smile deepened. "I'm indistractable," he said a little smugly. They then went for another longer kiss and Kira moved to send some kisses to his neck and even gave his ear a small nibble. She then looked at him. "See, nothing."

Kira's eyebrows rose up. "Then why are your eyes glowing?"

Scott blinked as he felt that his eyes were indeed glowing red and shook it away. "Cheater," he said playfully.

"And I just heard you growl."

Scott's face tensed up. "That wasn't me."

They then looked over and saw that Liam was awake, standing up and was growling at them. His eyes were glowing brighter and he was struggling against the chains.

"Are those chains going to hold him?" Kira asked him quickly.

Scott nodded. "Yeah. He can't be that strong." Liam was only turned one day ago. He was sure that it wasn't enough time to break out of chains even on a full moon.

But the next moment, Liam snapped the chains off and he came charging for them. Scott pushed Kira out of the way and Liam left out of the window and ran off into the night.

* * *

Mason was searching through the rooms on the second floor, looking for any sign of his friend. His last text to him had said that he was there but he hadn't seen a sign of him anywhere.

"Liam, you up here?" he said as he checked another room. "Where the hell are you?" he mumbled.

But he was then stumbled upon by Lydia. "What are you doing up here? The party is downstairs," she told him sternly.

"Sorry, I was looking for Liam."

She scoffed at him. "Sorry, but missing freshman are a little low on my priority list." She then saw that there was a small mess there too and grabbed a glass that had some wine in it.

"Not so low that you know he's a freshman," he pointed out.

She sighed as he had caught her. "I might've seen your friend. Downstairs." She then grabbed him to bring him back down but she lost her grip on the glass and it fell and spilled on the white carpet. "Oh my god, the carpet," she cried. She then moved to frantically try and dry it with her sleeve.

"It's okay, it'll come out," Mason told her. But it did little to ease her. Lydia seemed both upset and stressed. Mason's face softened as he could tell that she was really bothered. "I'm sorry. Was it valuable?"

She finally stopped rubbing at the stain. "No," she squeaked out. "That's the problem. Nothing here is valuable." She then rose her head and showed Mason that she was crying. Lydia couldn't help it. Lydia had been spending so much of her energy to make everyone think that she was okay and not having any troubles of her own, on top of everyone else's but she couldn't take it anymore. "We just put the house on the market. It's supposed to be in perfect condition. We need every penny we can get out of this place." And, she was sure that the carpet being stained was just the least bit of damage that the place was suffering right now with the party and Malia and Liam being restrained somewhere.

Mason nodded and gave her a small smile. "Hey, let me go and get some club soda and salt. Lydia, it'll come out. It will."

Lydia calmed herself down and nodded. Mason then left to go back downstairs and shut the door behind him. Lydia sat there for a bit before she rose her head at the door. She wasn't hearing anything anymore. She then went to the door and opened it and suddenly, the sounds from the party were back. She then closed it and it was all silent again. She then went and gave the room another look. "Soundproof," she realized. This room was built to be soundproof. While it was big, there really wasn't much in there but a few chairs, coffee tables and a cabinet. She walked around until her eyes fell on a small record player set up in there. She went to it and turned it on. But, music didn't play. Instead, she heard frantic muttering. She then looked over at the wall and saw what seemed to be people's faces pushing through it like it was water.

* * *

Malia was starting to pull harder on the chains, putting more stress on the restraints holding her in. They seemed close to snapping and maybe one more giant outburst would do it.

"Stiles!" Malia gruffed out through her clenched teeth. "I can't. I can't control it!" She then dropped her head as a few growls started to escape from her. "Please, knock me out!"

But Stiles just stood there, calmly watching her struggle. "No," he said in a simple tone.

"Stiles!"

"Malia, if you're going to learn to handle the full moon then you have to learn how to work through it."

"It's too much. Too strong. Please, make it stop."

Stiles closed his eyes for a second before he opened them slowly and looked at her with a soft expression on his face. "I'm sorry Malia, no."

She let out a pained grunt and tried to turn herself away from him. "Then get out, leave!"

"Why? Because you're afraid you'll escape and hurt me?" Stiles shrugged. "It's okay Malia. I can handle myself. Even if I couldn't it wouldn't be the first time I was in pain and honestly, I probably have some coming to me and would deserve it." He then narrowed his eyes. "Besides, I don't think you're really going to hurt me."

"But I want to," she growled out. She then started to fight harder against the restraints, pushing her claws out as she tried to reach Stiles' face. "I want to take your face and scratch it. Tear it to shreds. I want to feel your bones crack between my hands."

But Stiles didn't flinch. "Surprisingly enough, that's not the most disturbing thing a girl has said they wanted to do to me." She kept struggling and Stiles' face hardened. "I'm not leaving you and I'm not going to let you hurt anyone."

But Malia went and gave the restraints an extra hard tug. They then looked and saw that the restraint had torn even more and was only held together by a small piece of leather.

"You're not going to have a choice," Malia panted out.

Malia then gave the restraints another tug and the binding snapped off her wrist. Stiles took a step back to avoid her attempt to claw him with her freed hand. She still couldn't get too much further as her other hand was still restrained but now she was using the strength of both her hands now to tug herself free from the wall.

"Malia, focus," Stiles said to her. "Listen to my voice."

"Listen to mine! You have to run."

But Stiles shook his head. "No."

"Then, you have to knock me out. Please," she panted desperately to him.

Stiles let himself heave a heavy sigh out. "Malia, I'm not going to run. And I'm not going to hurt you because I don't think you're going to hurt me or anyone else."

"Stiles," she growled at him.

But Stiles stepped towards her. "You won't," he roughly insisted. "I think you're still scared about what happened with your family." That made Malia turn to look back at him. "It doesn't matter that you know you didn't kill them. In your heart, you still have to feel the guilt and fear of what happened. Still had to have nightmares and see yourself killing them over and over. I know what that's like. I remember everything I did when I was possessed and what's worse, I remember liking it. Because I felt powerful, and in control. More power and control than I've ever felt in a long time. It doesn't matter that I know that it wasn't me, I still feel all that guilt and pain of what happened." Stiles bit back the fact that there was someone else in their group who no doubt was feeling something similar about him. He then ducked his head a bit and brought out his blue eyes. "I have these to show for it. But still, I actually learned something from all of that." That made Malia settle a bit as she saw Stiles came closer to her. "From the beginning, I had to hear how amazing it was that I had such control of myself. Control of my power. But you know what I learned?" He then fully shifted and ripped the other restraint off her other wrist. "Control is overrated."

Malia went to raise her clawed hand over Stiles' face and it seemed that she was going to try and tear into it as she had feared. But, Stiles didn't flinch and seemed to be waiting for her to rip into him. She found her hand flattening and she went and touched her palm to his furry cheek. They both stared hard and long at each other's shifted faces, with Malia still breathing a little hard. Stiles went and brought his clawed hand over to the one she had still at his cheek and gave it a small squeeze as he went and let his forehead rest against hers. She let herself lean into him as she let herself begin to cry. Stiles reached down with his free hand and grasp Malia's free one. The two of them let their blue eyes look into one another as they started to sway together, still joined at their foreheads. They started to move a little closer to the window and let the light of the full moon shine over them both. They didn't know how long they stayed that way for but when they let themselves pull away from each other, they saw that they were both back to normal. Malia let herself calm down as Stiles went to wipe stray hairs away from her face and ran his thumb across her cheeks to wipe away her drying tears.

"Stiles," she panted out happily.

His face softened as he kept moving his hands to clean her face up. "You did it," he muttered proudly. "The night's still young. It's really beautiful out on the night of the full moon." He then stepped back and held his hand to her. "You want to see it with me?"

Malia slowly went and reached for it.

* * *

Scott left Kira in the boat house as he went running after Liam, trying to catch him before he got too far. He could see him head into the trees and dashed off into them. He made it into a small clearing but couldn't make out any sign of where he had gone off to. Suddenly he heard a roar and turned around just in time for him to get tackled by Liam. They ended up rolling down a hill and Liam managed to pin him down and then pushed him against a tree.

"Liam!" Scott said trying to reason with him. "Stop!"

But Liam just barked and pushed against him. "What did you do to me?!" he roared. "This is your fault! This is all your fault! You ruined my life!"

Scott felt his heart go cold. Those were the very same words that came out of his own mouth just one year ago. Hearing them said back to him like this, it made Scott's hold on Liam start to wane. Liam was about to claw at Scott's face when there was a rush of wind and a small explosion of sparks at the tree next to them which made a blinding flash of light. Liam screamed and covered his eyes from the light. He then ran off to get away. Scott looked over and spotted someone moving from the trees. Chris Argent.

"How did you know?" he asked.

Argent moved and held his hand out to help the boy up. "I got your text."

* * *

The Sheriff was thrown off to the lockers before he could manage to get a shot in. Derek stepped in and was dodging the Mute's swipes from his tomahawk. He managed to strike at the Mute's blind spot and pushed him to the ground. He then kicked at him to knock him into the lockers. Derek grabbed the guy's wrist and twisted it to make him let go of the axe and then moved to pin his arms to his back. The Mute tried to fight and get free of the hold but froze when a gun was pointed at his face.

Noah glared as he aimed his gun right between the guy's eyes. "You have the right to remain silent," he hissed at him. He was too angry and worked up to let himself think of the irony behind those words. "Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law." He moved to take out his cuffs and restrain him.

"No," Derek gasped out. Across the hall, he spotted his uncle and he was charging right for them. "Peter, no!"

But Peter didn't stop. He charged at them, knocking all three of them down. He then crutched over the Mute and ran his claws into him and began to maul him to death. Every swipe of his claws sent blood spraying out, all over his face. He must've done it about eight times before he finally stopped. He then reached out and picked up a piece of the Mute's torn flesh, where the mouth was supposed to be and saw that he had gone on and tore him open a hole there. He then moved to get up but the Sheriff was getting up too, pointing his gun at him. Peter didn't so much as flinch at the sight of it. He just took out a handkerchief and began to clean his hands.

"You know you would've wanted to," he said to them as he moved to leave them.

"We found a better way," Derek told him.

But Peter kept walking. "I'm a creature of habit."

The Sheriff put the gun down but still glared as Peter disappeared down the hall. He knew that, they all knew about Peter's habits. Which was the reason why his son was hesitant to tell Malia that he was her father.

* * *

Stiles and Malia left the basement through the cellar door and made it outside into the fresh air. Malia looked up at the full moon, letting herself take it in for the first time since becoming human again. She felt herself still shake a bit but Stiles still had her by the hand and gave it a comforting squeeze. Malia breathed and let the tension just ease out of her. She guessed she found her anchor after all. They then started to walk off, putting some distance between them and the sounds of the party inside the lake house.

"Let's go see how Liam's doing?" Stiles suggested as he caught sight of the boat house ahead. Malia nodded and they headed for it. "Knock, knock," Stiles called out as they reached the house's door. But his eyes widened when he saw that Kira was alone. He also noticed the chains on the floor and the broken window. Oh, he knew Lydia was going to be pissed at them now.

Kira's eyes widened to see that Malia was there, unbound. "Malia, are you okay?"

"Better," she told her.

Stiles took a look at the chains to find that they had been snapped apart. "He got out?"

"Yeah. Went out and headed for the woods. Scott just left to try and catch him."

Stiles let a heated sigh out as he blew up at his forehead. "Leave him alone for five minutes," he muttered.

"What do we do?" Malia asked him.

"You and I will go out and help Scott try to find him. Kira, could you go into the lake house, find Lydia and tell her what's going on?"

"Okay. And be careful," she told after them as they were already running into the trees together.

* * *

"There's a clearing just north of here. All you have to do is corral him there, the rest is taken cared of," Argent instructed Scott.

Scott looked at him. "What are you going to do?"

"He's your beta Scott. The question is, what are you going to do?"

"He won't listen to me," Scott sighed.

"He will if you start using your own words."

Scott honestly didn't know what he could say. But he didn't get much time to dwell on that as he heard a scream in the distance. Argent handed him a switch that he recognized for his emitters and Scott took off for Liam.

Not too far, Stiles and Malia were trying to track Liam in the woods when he suddenly stopped and held his hand up. "Wait," he told her.

Malia narrowed her eyes. She could hear it. A strange pinging like sound that was somewhat annoying to her ears. "What is that sound?"

Stiles sighed out. "I have pretty good idea."

Liam was screaming as he stepped into Argent's trap and the surrounding emitters kept trapped in the center of them. He finally stopped when they were shut off by Scott. He then lifted his head to show that he was back to normal.

"What, what's happening to me?" Liam nearly cried out.

Scott stared at him. "The same thing that happened to me," he found himself saying.

Chris Argent managed to catch up and saw Scott had found Liam and was now kneeling in front of him

"They can't know about this. My mom. My stepdad. I can't do this to them again," he choked out.

"What do you mean again?" Scott asked him.

"I got kicked out of school…and I deserved it. The way they looked at me, when I saw what I did to that car." Liam didn't seem to be able to finish.

Close by, Stiles and Malia were running over but froze when they saw that Liam was crying in front of Scott. Malia went to move for them but Stiles held her back and shook his head. He felt this was something Scott had to see to himself. He was the Alpha. They couldn't help him, not right now.

Scott's face softened. "Liam…it's okay."

"They can't see me like this," Liam cried out. "Like…"

"Like a monster?" Scott guessed. Liam nodded. Scott then stood up and Stiles, Malia and Argent narrowed their eyes. They could see a change in how Scott was standing. Scott's face hardened with resolve. "You're not a monster. You're a werewolf. Like me." He then revealed his red eyes to him. They then heard movement behind them and turned to see Stiles and Malia walking over to them, with their hands entwined. Scott smiled at the sight of them before looking back at Liam. "Like my friend Stiles." Liam stared straight at Scott's glowing red eyes. They came over and moved to stand at either side of Scott, behind him. The three of them staring at Liam with calm and tranquil expressions on their faces. "You're one of us now."

Behind Scott, Stiles and Malia let their own blue eyes show with Scott's red ones. Liam gave them each another hard look. Unlike before, he really looked at them. Soft and thoughtfully. They seemed to all be friends but Liam somehow knew that they were far more than that. And…he was finding himself wanting to be a part of that as well.

Stiles noticed Chris Argent over to the side. He had a crossbow in his hands through it was pointed away from all of them. He and Argent made eye contact for a split second before Stiles looked away to ignore him and focused his attention on Liam. He smiled down at him. "Happy Turniversary Liam."

Scott let a small breath loose but found himself still smiling. He officially gave up in trying to get Stiles to give up on the whole idea when he saw something seem to come over Liam as his friend said that to him. The boy's nerves loosened up as an amused smirk escaped from him. He seemed calmer and content more than he had been all night. But the smile faded as Scott turned to look off in the opposite direction.

Liam noticed. "Scott? Is something wrong?"

His eyes looked off to the direction of the lake house. "Blood."

Stiles and Malia looked over in the same direction and their eyes narrowed as they sniffed out and detected the same faint smell of fresh spilled blood.

* * *

Raphael McCall was looking over the tomahawk that he was looking over in his gloved hands. Deputy Haigh had given him a call about Derek Hale meeting with the Sheriff and then bringing Deputy Parrish into the office for a private meeting. They then had taken off in a big hurry and Haigh had gone in and found the tomahawk in the Sheriff's desk and quickly brought it to him. There was no doubt in his mind that this was the same kind of weapon that the Walcott's killer had used but why did Derek Hale have it? He set the weapon down next to the mountain of files, photos and diagrams he had scattered in his room. Raphael needed answers but he knew that he wouldn't get them from the either Stilinski, Stiles, Derek, Melissa or from Scott. They would no doubt be watching for him and talk him in circles like usual. If he wanted to find out what was really going on, he would need to find it with someone that had them and was outside their circle. And he knew just the person.

* * *

Kira went into the house to find that the party was still going strong. She tried to navigate her way through the sea of partying teenagers, asking for Lydia. When she didn't find any sign of her on the first floor, she decided to head on upstairs. She saw some light peeking out from one of the doors and opened it and quickly found her.

"Lydia?" she said. "Something's happened." But Lydia didn't react to her. She just kept staring at the wall with a blank expression on her face. She noticed that the record player by her was on but the needle wasn't set in to play anything but Lydia looked like she was still listening. She had a feeling about what was happening. "Lydia, what do you hear?"

Lydia finally blinked. "The key," she mumbled. "The key to break the code."

Lydia then went to her laptop and opened it up to the sequence that she had saved on her computer. Kira watched as she punched the code in, up until it requested that it give a keyword. Lydia then typed in: **Allison**. Once it was typed in, she hit enter and they watched as a list began to appear with a number next to each name.

SEAN WALCOTT 250

DAVID WALCOTT 250

MICHAEL WALCOTT 250

CHRISTINA WALCOTT 250

LYDIA MARTIN 15

SCOTT MCCALL 20

DEMARCO MONTANA 250

DEREK HALE 15

CARRIE HUDSON 500

KAYLEEN BETTCHER 250

KIRA YUKIMURA 6

ELIAS TOWN 250

"What is this?" Kira asked as she gazed at all of them.

Lydia kept her unblinking eyes on the names. "It's a list of Supernaturals in Beacon Hills. It's a Deadpool. And we're all on it."


	9. Deadpool

Chapter 9: Deadpool

Derek was making his way off for the school so he could meet up with his friends on the team for a final game. The seniors of the team would soon be getting busy with graduation and then college and this might be the last time they all played together as a group. Most of the team was disappointed that Derek wouldn't be joining them next year. Derek told them that he was given no choice as his mother had even gone to their Coach and told him that Derek wasn't to be put on the team next season. Derek let a small growl escape him as he went through the school doors. He tried to talk to his big sister and asked her if she could help their mother change her mind but Laura said that she probably made the fair and wise decision. He made one small mistake and now his mother was making him pay for it for the rest of his life? How was that a fair and wise decision? Derek felt his anger start to rise and the heated blood flowed to his head and he quickly went and hurled the basketball he was holding across the hall where it ricocheted hard off some lockers and started to bounce a bit away. Derek went to go after it when a pair of hands reached down and picked it up.

It was a young woman with long and curly blonde hair. She looked down at the ball and held it out to him. "Here, I think you _dropped_ this," she said with an expression that made it clear that she had seen him hurl it away.

Derek felt the heat rise in his cheeks at how his outburst had been seen. "Sorry," he said taking it from her.

But the woman just shrugged. "Hey, it's high school. What high school wouldn't be complete without angry, tempered teenagers?"

Derek let a small chuckle escape him as he gave the woman a look. She wasn't a student, he knew that. But she seemed too young to be a teacher also. He didn't recognize her, and he would've remembered someone like her. She was beautiful. "Uh, I haven't seen you around here before," he said to her.

"Oh, I'm a TA. This is actually my first day." She held out her hand to him. "I'm Kate."

Derek quickly went to shake it back. "Derek." He couldn't help but think that her hands were warm and soft.

She then let him go and eyed the basketball he was holding. "You're here for some after school ball?"

"Yeah, I'm on the team. Well, was on the team."

"Oh, what happened?"

He shook his head. "It's a long story."

"Oh, a man of mystery. I like that," she said with a small smile.

Derek smile widened to show his teeth now. But Derek shook himself out of it. "I better go. My friends will be waiting for me."

"Okay. I hope to see you again some time," she called out after him.

Derek stopped and looked back at her. "Me too."

As Derek headed off for the gym, Kate was eyeing him with a hungry look in her eye. Hook, line and sinker.

* * *

A girl, Carrie, was running in the parking lot of the high school. Hiding through the maze of school buses as Violet was trying to hunt her down. She let her golden eyes flare a bit to reveal she was a werewolf before she ran off when she heard Violet's footsteps grow closer. Violet had her thermal wire out and ready. The girl was now hiding in one of the buses and paced herself as she heard Violet pass by.

"The sun, the moon, the truth," she muttered to herself. She kept repeating the words in whispers but gasped when she heard the door opening.

Violet was stepping into the bus and was now looking through the seats, checking them for any sign of her. She pulled and taut her wire as she walked down the bus. The werewolf surprised her and scratched at her, knocking her down as she ran out of the bus. Carrie started to make a hard break for it when a minivan pulled up in front of her.

"Get in!" Garrett told her. The girl gave a look back to the bus. "Come on, she's coming! Get in!" he cried desperately to her. Carrie then moved to get in the car and Garrett then locked it with a smirk appearing on his face. "Seriously? I can't believe you fell for that." He then brought out his blade and quickly stuck it in her.

* * *

When they had detected the scent of blood, they all ran off and found the headless body. Scott quickly told Malia to take Liam back to the house and find Kira and Lydia. Stiles quickly recognized the body belonging to Demarco Montana. Argent was with them and looked down at the body and found signs of claws at the fingertips. He told Scott and Stiles that this man was a werewolf and someone had decapitated him with a thermal wire. Stiles quickly brought out his phone and called his father and they found that he and Derek had quite a night themselves.

Stiles quickly organized everything that they had learned from their separate finds of the night, including Lydia's. He brought out a new board, well it was an old one that the station was throwing out, and set it up in his room. He then took all of the information and things they knew and connected them all with red string. Once he organized all the facts, he then told Scott, before they went off to meet with his dad and tell him.

"Okay, so the Walcotts were the first. Well, the first that we know about. Four: Sean, his brother, and their parents. They were killed by a professional assassin called the Mute. His weapon of choice, a military tomahawk. But the Mute was then killed by Peter Hale after he tried to blow up Derek with a claymore mine." Stiles let his eyes linger on his dad for a moment after that one. "Next was Demarco. He delivered a keg to the party at Lydia's lake house and got decapitated outside his car. According to Argent, it seemed his killer used a thermal cut wire. Then, last night, a girl stabbed and killed outside the school. Carrie Hudson, and it looks like she was another werewolf."

"So wait, you're trying to say that there's a third killer?"

"Looks like it," Stiles slurred out.

"What's going on?" the Sheriff asked them as he looked at all the photos of the people who were now dead. "What is all of this?"

"It's a Deadpool," Scott told him. "A hitlist of supernatural creatures." He then reached into his pocket and pulled out a sheet of paper and handed it to Noah. "This is only part of it. The rest still has to be decoded."

Noah scanned the names and quickly recognized Scott's, Lydia's and Derek's names on it. "Who found this list?"

"Lydia," Stiles told him.

"How?"

"She wrote it. Well, actually she transcribed it without even realizing it," he said pointedly.

Stiles' dad understood. The same thing that drew her to the Walcott house and had her find the bodies there. "Banshee."

"Banshee," Stiles nodded.

"Wonderful," he grunted out. As he looked down the list, he noticed something else. "Uh, what are all these numbers next to the names?"

"Yeah, we're getting to that," Stiles quickly cut in. "But first, you have to know that the code was broken with a Cypher Key."

"Wait, you mean like a keyword?"

"It was actually a name."

"Allison," Scott muttered out.

At that, Stiles moved his eyes to stare down at the desk, the paper, anything but Scott right now. He heard the sadness in his voice as he said her name and he couldn't help but feel a fresh wave of guilt and then anger. His father stared long and hard at the boys as they silently stood there for a moment.

Stiles went and scratched at his nose before he decided to move this along. "Her name broke a third of the list."

Scott straightened himself up. "And, we think there might be two other Cypher Keys."

"Which will give us the rest of the names," Noah said, following along. "Okay, so how do we get the Cypher Keys?"

"The same way we got the code," Stiles told him before looking over at Scott.

"Lydia. She's been at the lake house all weekend trying to find the other two keywords."

"Malia and Kira are with her but, so far, nothing." Stiles then went and took a pen and crossed off the names of the Walcotts, Demarco and Carrie. "And so far six of the names have been killed off."

"And who made this list?" he asked them.

Stiles' jaw tightened. "We don't know. All we have right now is a name. A code name."

"The Benefactor," Noah said as he remembered when Parrish had found it when he hacked the Mute's signal. He then looked at the names again. "The Walcotts were uh, what was it again?"

"Wendigos," said Stiles.

His dad nodded. "Yeah, but Derek said that they were underground so even he didn't know. But you two are werewolves and you didn't know about Demarco and Carrie, right?" They shook their heads. "What about these other two names on the list. Kayleen Bettcher and Elias Town. They werewolves too?"

"We don't know." Scott shrugged.

Stiles shook his head as he folded his arms. "We've never even heard of them before we got this list. Same with Carrie."

"Deaton had told us that the Nemeton would draw supernatural creatures here."

Noah narrowed his eyes. "Here being Beacon Hills, or Beacon County? I mean, the population of Beacon Hills is around 30,000."

"And dropping," Stiles dismally muttered out.

His father gave him a somber look. "But, if we're talking about Beacon County, you're looking at closer to 500,000."

Stiles sighed. "Yeah, we don't know how far the Nemeton's power reaches. Or even if Demarco, Carrie and the Walcotts were here after we sacrificed ourselves to the Nemeton or if they were here before then."

Noah shook his head and went to sit down. "Just…how many werewolves, banshees, kitsunes and whatever the hell else is out there are we talking about here? And, what happens if the next Cypher Key unlocks not twelve names, but a hundred?"

Stiles shook his head. "We don't think it'll be that many. There's a limit."

"Because of the numbers," Scott pointed out to them. "We think that once we add them all up, it'll equal 117."

Noah narrowed his eyes. "117 what?"

"Million."

Stiles then took the list and started writing K's and M's at all the appropriate numbers. "117 Million dollars dad," he said when he was finished. "The money that was stolen from the Hale Vault and is being used by someone to finance all these murders."

"Someone that wants all the Supernaturals of Beacon Hills dead," Scott finished for him.

Noah stiffened. "All Supernaturals." He then looked over his son. "Even-"

He didn't have to finish the question. Scott and Stiles knew what he wanted to know, if Stiles was on the Deadpool too.

Stiles shook his head. "We're not sure."

"How can you not be sure?" his dad asked.

"Because of this." Scott went and pointed down at Kira's name. "Kira's on the list, which means that whoever made this had to do it after Kira came here after the lunar eclipse over three months ago."

The Sheriff nodded. "The time when it looked like Stiles wasn't a werewolf anymore. So, there's a chance that he might not be on the other two parts?" he asked a little hopeful.

"Probably," Scott mumbled.

"Dad, I only turned back to a wolf over a month ago. And, it's not like we advertised that I was changed back. Even the hunters in Mexico were surprised that I was a werewolf again."

Noah ran his hand furiously across the back of his head. He guessed that to make a list like this, as well as plan to rob the Hale Vault of 117 million, had to have started weeks in advance. They might've overlooked his son. "But Scott, you, Lydia, Kira and Derek are definitely on here. And you're all worth millions."

Scott sighed as he let himself gaze upon the number 20 next to his name. "I know," he said glumly. He felt miserable, not just because he was scared that assassins would be coming after him. But also because of how much trouble he knew that his mother was having right now. He knew that money was short right now and some bills were starting to pile up. Yet, he was worth 20 million dollars. It was like a cruel joke.

The Sheriff continued. "I mean, we've already have had a killer with no mouth and someone with a thermal cut wire who decapitates people. Now, with the stab victim, there might be another new one if it isn't the one that killed Demarco. And what happens when even more show up?"

"We'll stop them," Scott told him. "But we've got to find who else is on the Deadpool."

"And we can't do that until we get the other two Cypher Keys," Stiles pointed out. "The problem is, we don't know how long it'll take for Lydia to find them."

"Yeah, she hasn't really mastered how to use her power much yet," Scott put in. Weres were easier to figure out for them than Banshees and not even Deaton seemed to be able to help with that. "I wish there was a faster way."

"Maybe." Stiles then looked at the pictures of Demarco and Carrie's bodies. His eyes narrowed at the corpses of two werewolves who were killed for money. The two of them didn't seem to have done anything to deserve being murdered the way they were. "What if we can find the assassins that killed them? We could capture and then make them to give us the other two keys."

Scott tensed at Stiles' suggestion. He could feel the fierceness in his friend's words just then. "Make them? How?"

Stiles turned to catch Scott's eyes. "I'm sure we'll come with some things."

Scott was worried what some of the things that Stiles would come with were. But his father cut in.

"Yeah, it's a solid idea son but I don't think it'll be that easy. The last two deaths didn't leave any traces of who did it. I wouldn't know where to begin to look for them."

Stiles went to pick up a photo of Carrie's stab wounds. "Wait," he said as he pointed to them. "It looks like the same kind of marking is around each place she got stabbed. What kind of blade could've done this?" he asked his father.

"We're still waiting on the M.E.'s report," he muttered. "There's one other thing that I don't get. How did this new assassin know that Demarco was going to be at the lake house?"

"Oh, everyone knows that he delivers kegs to teenagers for a little extra cash," Scott told him. A small part of him wanted to laugh at the fact that he told a cop, the sheriff no less, that so quickly and casually.

"Uh huh," Noah nodded before he gave the list another look. "So, whoever ordered that keg, killed Demarco."

"Someone who was at the party," Stiles said with a nod.

"A student," said Scott as they were the only ones who were at the lake house. "But we don't know who."

Stiles narrowed his eyes. "No, but I think I know how we could start to find out."

* * *

The weekend was over and the halls of the school were filled with students in high spirits. Though, a pair were a little tense. Violet was moving to try and cover some scratches on her neck from hunting their mark.

"You alright?" Garrett asked her.

"I can handle a scratch or two," she huffed at him. "I just want to know when we're actually going to go for the real money. Seven figure money."

Her boyfriend gave her a look. "We talked about this."

"Yeah, that it wouldn't be safe but you said you would take care of that."

"And I have." Garrett smiled at her. "I found us a good one and we're going for it."

"When?" she asked eagerly.

"Tonight."

The two of them then walked off and passed a classroom whose door opened to reveal Kira and her father walking out of it. She was reading from a book as he tried to speak to her.

"It's not that we didn't want to talk to you, we were just wondering if you wanted to talk to us."

"About what?" Kira said a little distracted by her reading.

"About something you maybe forgot to mention. Something important."

At that Kira froze a bit. "How important?" she asked nervously.

"Exceptionally," he said sternly.

Kira stopped walking right then and there. "Oh god, you know," she whispered. She then turned to look at her father with an apologetic look on her face.

He nodded as his face hardened a bit. "We know."

Kira checked around them before she went over to her father. "Look, I was going to tell you. We were going to tell you everything about the Deadpool, the assassins, the killings but I didn't want you to worry."

Her father paled a bit. He then pulled out a jersey. "I was talking about you joining the lacrosse team."

"Oh." Kira brightened as she went and took the jersey from him. "Then never mind."

She then tried to leave but her father cried after her. "Deadpool!"

* * *

Liam was in the weight room with Mason as he was lifting a weight bar. He was finding it kind of easy to do. Far easier than before. Mason was close by, with some dumbbells but Liam was barely hearing him.

"You know how I keep reminding Garrett to give back my hoodie?"

"Yeah," Liam said before he went to go and add more weight.

"Well, I remembered how you said that he lived on that housing development on Spalding, so I went there. And guess what, that housing development is still under development."

"So?" Liam said as he went to begin lifting the heavier set.

"There are no houses yet. So, unless the dude lives in some backhoe, there's something he's not telling us." Mason looked and saw that Liam looked like he was barely registering what he was saying as he kept his focus on lifting the weight bar. "Then there's this other dude. He's been acting really strange. Running to school for no reason. Disappearing at parties. Used to be my best friend." He looked and saw that Liam still wasn't listening. In fact, he was putting even more weight on the bar. And there was already a lot of weight on it. "And, is apparently on steroids."

That finally seemed to snap Liam out of it. "What?"

"You're not actually going to try and lift that, are you?" He saw Liam give the bar a hard look and he seemed to realize how much weight he was starting to press. "Are you alright? Is it about the game today?"

"I'm fine," Liam bit out. "It's just a scrimmage."

"You do know who you're playing, right?"

"Yeah." But then Liam shook his head. "Uh, no. I guess I missed the announcement." With all the excitement of the weekend, he must've not really been paying attention to much.

"Liam, it's your old school. Devenford Prep."

At that, Liam froze. He could already feel the heat starting to rise up to his head. "I have to go," he huffed out.

Liam then took off for the locker room, leaving Mason alone in the weight room. He decided to clean up after his friend and then moved to begin taking the weights off. He grabbed one and turned to put it back on the rack when he slipped over a dropped towel and started to stumble. But Mason and the weight were then caught. He looked up and saw Stiles helping him straighten back up.

"You okay?" he asked him.

"Yeah. Thanks," Mason said gratefully.

"No problem. It's Mason, right?"

Mason nodded. "Yeah. Uh, you're Stiles, right?"

"Right," he said a little upbeat. "You've heard of me?"

"Yeah. You're one of the guys who sent my friend Liam to the hospital."

"Oh that, Liam's over that now. It's all water under the bridge," he waved off. "Here, why don't I help you." Stiles then moved to clean up the weights. He looked and saw the amount that was placed onto the bar. He narrowed his eyes at them for a moment before he took one off. "Mason, Liam told me that he invited you to Lydia's lake house for that party on Friday."

"Yeah. Speaking of Liam, do you know what happened to him? I was looking for him back at the party but I couldn't find him anywhere. No one I talked to had seen him."

"Oh yeah, he was with me and my friend Scott. We were kind of putting him through a sort of welcome to the team thing," he laughed off.

"What kind of thing?"

Stiles dropped his tone a bit. "Well, I'd tell you but then I'd have to kill you." Stiles always wanted the chance to say that.

Mason almost would've laughed if Stiles didn't actually look a little serious at that. But he shook it off as he was still too concerned for Liam. "Well, do you know if he's okay? Liam seems a little different lately. He's barely been talking to me and his mind always seems like it's somewhere else. I'm kind of worried about him."

Stiles' expression softened a bit. "You really are, aren't you?" Stiles could see that Mason's concern for Liam seemed to match his own for Scott back when he was trying to be normal and distracted by Allison.

"He's my best friend," he said simply.

Stiles smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I understand. Look, all I can tell you is that Liam is starting to have a lot going on and it will take him a while to adjust to all of it. Just make sure that he can still count on you being there for him. But, don't be afraid to call him out if he starts being a jackass," he quickly threw in. "He shouldn't think that it's all okay."

Mason let an amused smirk loose. "Oh, no problems there." He then put another of the weights away.

Stiles then noticed just how much was still on the weight bar. "Hey, was Liam just here?" he asked eyeing it.

"Yeah, if you were looking for him, then you just missed him."

"Actually Mason, I was looking for you."

"Me?"

"Yeah, uh, Lydia told me that there was some problems at her place that night. Apparently, someone went and broke a window at the boathouse."

Mason froze. "Oh, is she okay? I ran into her at the party, she seemed kind of down."

"Lydia's tougher than she looks. Believe me. But, she is still a little freaked out by that."

"I'm sorry. I don't know who could've done that?"

"Yeah, no one does," Stiles said though he knew perfectly who broke it. "She found a cup with some beer around there. I think that someone must've gotten drunk and broke it. That means the one who ordered the keg has to help pay for a new window. Since you invited most of the people, I wondered if you knew who it was?"

Mason's face fell a bit. "Oh, sorry but I don't know who ordered it."

Stiles listened and heard the skip in Mason's heart. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, sorry. Uh, look I have to go. I don't want to be late for my next class, and it's pretty far."

Mason then took off leaving Stiles looking after him with narrowed eyes. Mason just lied to him. He knew who it was, and seemed to want to protect him. Maybe he should try talking to Liam and see if he could get Mason to tell him. Stiles then saw that the other side of the weight bar still had all the weights on it. He looked and saw that no one else was left in the weight room before he went and slid them all off at once and carried them back to the rack. It seems that he and Scott had to talk to Liam about more things than one.

* * *

Liam made it into the locker room but as he was getting ready to change, he quickly felt something wasn't right. Liam then realized that his lacrosse stick wasn't in his locker. He moved through the locker room to look for it and soon came upon a guy that he'd never seen before. He was holding a lacrosse stick in his hands.

"This yours?" he asked as if he didn't know already.

Without waiting for an answer he then snapped it in half and threw the pieces at Liam's feet. Liam gave the broken stick a look before he looked back up at him with his eyes glowing. Liam could feel his anger starting to skyrocket at how this guy just came and stole from him and then broke his stick right in front of him. The guy wasn't fazed by Liam's transformation and Liam didn't care. He charged for him but he was caught and held up by his throat.

"Liam. Liam," Scott then appeared and was calmly giving him a reproachful look.

"You were right. He is angry."

Liam was then let go and tried to get himself to calm down.

Scott then held up a lacrosse stick. "This one's yours." He then threw it over to him. "Get to class Liam." Liam was a little ticked off at being played and then being dismissed like a little kid but he just sucked it up and left. Scott watched him leave and then turned to see that Derek was smiling at him. "What are you smiling about?"

"You're going to be good at this."

Scott gave him an incredulous look. "Are you kidding? I'm totally unprepared…remember when I told you if you could teach me a few things. I think that right now, I could use a full on training manual."

Derek tilted his head. He felt that Scott might have a point there. "But, I'll tell you one thing. That anger he's got. It'll make him strong. I've seen something like that before, with Stiles. With his urge to protect those that he feels he needs to and when those he cares about are hurt. To be able to draw power from something like that so easily; it tends to make wolves like them more stronger."

"And more dangerous," Scott huffed out. He then moved to sit on the nearby bench. "I almost can't control Stiles anymore when he starts fighting. He's starting to let it get too far and now, with Liam…" Scott went to run his hand stressfully through his hair. "This was supposed to be the semester where I can focus on school again." Derek moved to sit next to him and Scott shook his head. "Kate's back. And, I have a beta. Now there's a Deadpool."

"If all of our names are on that list, then that's what we should be focused on. And we're going to need wolves like Stiles and Liam to all get through this." Scott let out a deep sigh but nodded. "You think Lydia can get that second key?"

"She's working on it. Stiles has another plan to see if he could get the rest faster though."

Derek could see that Scott seemed nervous about that. "Well, if either can get us the list, then we need to help them any way we can."

* * *

Lydia was in the art room with Malia as she was eyeing an empty canvas. She was holding a pencil over the paper but every time she got close to making any kind of mark, she pulled away. Malia was staring from her, to the pencil, to the canvas, and back again for a few minutes when she started to get anxious. And bored. She tried to move around to see if there was something she could do to make Lydia finally do something when Lydia broke her gaze.

"Please stop hovering," she huffed at her.

Malia shook her head. "I'm not hovering, I'm waiting. Draw something. Write something. We need to know who else is on that list."

Lydia took notice of the way that Malia seemed to be bouncing in place. She was nervous. "You mean you need to know if you're on the list."

Malia looked away for a moment before she nodded. "Well, if someone is coming to take my head off, then yeah, I'd like to know. Or Stiles' head," she added in a lower tone.

Lydia could understand Malia's concern but she felt that the werecoyote was trying to be falsely hopeful. So far, every member of the pack was on that list. The only two that weren't were Malia and Stiles. But that was just the first set of names. Statistically speaking, the odds that their names would be on the next or even the last part were astronomically high. She could safely bet her trust on that. Lydia's pencil was still hovering over the paper and Malia went to hover her head over her shoulder.

"Can you please just, sit down?" she snapped at her. "You're making me nervous."

"Alright." Malia sighed and went over to sit at the nearby table and went for the textbook. She guessed that if she was going to wait there, might as well try and study. She opened the book but froze when her eyes fell on a diagram of a screaming woman. "Lydia?"

Lydia had let the pencil rest on the canvas when Malia spoke up and made her make a slash on the paper. "What?"

"Maybe we need help. From another banshee." She then showed her the picture.

They knew another banshee. One that seemed to have a firmer handle of her power.

"Meredith."

They left the art room and Malia was still a little jittery as she followed after Lydia.

"So, do we go to see her now or after school?" she asked.

Lydia sighed. "I don't think it will be easy. Eichen House won't allow Meredith to have any visitors without permission from a family member."

"Yeah, you're right. That won't be easy since all of her family is dead." Malia remembered Meredith's story well. Besides Stiles, she was the only one there that didn't piss her off when she stayed there. She was more weird than aggravating. And Stiles had just been frustrating…in more ways than one.

"Perfect," Lydia said deflating.

"Okay then. We could go back to the art room. Or maybe the piano in the music room?"

Lydia recalled the story that Scott and Stiles shared with her about Meredith when she had sneaked out of Eichen House to come to the school. She gave Malia a look that told her that she was annoyed. "I'm not plucking piano strings for two hours and waiting for some…supernatural vibration."

Malia eased a bit. "Uh, fine. What else do banshees do? What else can we try?"

"You think I know? I can't just turn this on, okay. It's great that you got over your lack of control but not all of us can. You can get better. But me, I just have voices in my head." Lydia was a little bitter at how Malia was having issues of control just a couple of days ago and now it was all behind her, thanks to Stiles. And Liam, he would no doubt also get better with time, just like Scott and Stiles had. Kira, she was an adorable klutz but put a sword or stick in her hand and she was as graceful and strong as they come. She didn't have any of what they had.

Her outburst made a few people start to look their way and Lydia just marched off. Malia stared after her. Her bitterness and frustration were leaving a bad taste in Malia's mouth.

* * *

Coach Finstock was giving a lecture in his economics class as he was waving a lacrosse stick around. It seemed that everyone was somewhat listening, even Scott. But one student was paying super hard attention to what he was personally doing that he didn't even register his voice.

Stiles was looking through some pictures of the bodies of Demarco and Carrie. He tried to question some of the people who were at the party, to see if any of them might know who ordered the keg but, so far, nothing. No one aside from Mason seemed to know who it was. Stiles could only guess that whoever it was happened to be someone that Mason didn't want to get into trouble. It was too bad that the kid didn't know that whoever he was protecting no doubt was more trouble than he counted on. Until he could find Liam and ask for his help with Mason, all he had to go on right now was the photos. Particularly, the marking around the stab wound. If he could find out what made this, it might help him find the assassin quicker. Not just for him either. That morning, his father had pulled him aside before he went to school and told him that he wanted to know the name of the person as soon as he and Scott found them. He made Stiles promise that he would immediately contact him when he learned who it was. His dad stressed that Stiles had to keep him informed so that they could get ahead and stop these assassins before more people ended up killed for money. He guessed that the chance of him being on the Deadpool and ending up like the last two werewolves had gotten to his father. It was getting to Stiles too. Seeing Scott's name, Lydia, Kira, and Derek on there too. Last night, all he could dream about was coming across their bodies, stabbed and beheaded. Then he saw himself that way, with his father kneeling pale and broken over him. As if his father didn't have enough to stress about with the bills that he was subtly trying to keep away from him.

Coach noticed that Stiles wasn't paying attention and was looking through a collection of papers and photos spread on his desk. He narrowed his eyes and moved over and raised his lacrosse stick to slam it on the desk and make him jump. But, as he slammed it down, Stiles' hand shot out and caught it before it could make contact. "Wow, good reflexes there Stilinski. I hope to see more of that at the game tonight."

"Huh?" Stiles looked up at him and realized that he was holding the lacrosse stick. He guessed that he had been so mentally worked up that he must've reacted to the attack on instinct.

Coach narrowed his eyes at that but then lowered his gaze to see what it was that was on his desk. His eyes widened at the sight of a stab victim and someone that was decapitated. "You know Stilinski, you should be proud of yourself. Never before has a student both impressed and disturbed me so much, at the same time. If that were an achievement, you would be on the Honor Roll."

"Oh, thank you Coach," he said with a smile.

"Put that all away," he told him. He then started to move away but Stiles suddenly tightened his grip on the stick and pulled it in closer. "Stilinski!"

But Stiles paid that no mind. He moved to remove the rubber end from the stick to stare at the hollow stick. The shape of the hole, he'd seen it before. He looked down at the picture of Carrie's body and saw that it matched the shape found around the stab wounds. He then looked up and saw that Coach was still trying to yank the stick free from him. "Oh, sorry Coach."

"What is wrong with you Stilinski?!" But he held his hand up to stop him barely a second later. "No, you know what, don't answer that." He then went to put some distance between them.

Stiles then looked over at Scott and he recognized the look that was on his face. Stiles had just figured something out. Something serious and bad. Stiles held up the picture of the stab wounds.

"It's a lacrosse player," Stiles mumbled.

Scott's eyes widened. "The killer is on the team," he realized.

* * *

It was study hall and Garrett was heading off to try and take care of some things and prepare for later tonight when he was approached by Mason.

"Hey Garrett, I've been looking for you."

"Why, what's up?"

Soon after, Garrett was in the chemistry classroom, sharpening his weapon. He was trying to pass the time while he waited, which wasn't long as Violet came on in and held up her phone.

"I got your text. What's the big emergency?"

"It looks like we might have to leave sooner than we thought."

Violet stomped over to him. "What do you mean, leave? You mean town? Now? When we're about to go after a higher mark, why?"

"People are starting to ask questions."

"Like who?"

Garrett went and put down his blade. "Mason. He came to me earlier and started asking me about where we lived. He tried to track me down this weekend because he wanted his hoodie back."

Violet shrugged. "So, that's no reason to just up and run. Just give the stupid sweater back to him and say that he must've made a mistake."

"Yeah, that's not the real problem. He also wanted to warn me that Stilinski was looking and asking around for the one who ordered the keg."

Now she was taken aback. "Why?"

"Mason said that there was a window broken at Lydia Martin's lake house from the party and he's looking for someone to help pay for it. Thinks whoever broke it must've been drunk and since he doesn't know who, he's looking for the one that brought in the drinks in the first place. Mason knows that you're the one that ordered the keg and wanted to tell me so I could warn you."

"And how is that a problem? We made more than enough from the other night to pay for some stupid window."

Garrett slammed his hand angrily on the table. "You don't get it, do you? Stilinski doesn't give a damn about the window. He has to be looking for the one that killed the wolf by the lake house. He must know that he was lured there by the one that ordered the keg."

Violet then froze up as she now understood what he was saying. "Did Mason tell him anything?"

"No, he wanted to buy us some time so that he could find out who broke the window and save us from paying for it. But it will only be a matter of time before Stilinski tracks it to us and then our cover's blown. I think that after we take out our target tonight, it might be good for us to disappear for a bit."

"You want us to just cut and run?" Violet's jaw tightened a bit. "Because of some nosy junior? So, even if Stiles is looking for the killer, what can he do?"

"Uh, plenty. Did you forget that his dad's the Sheriff? And then there's his friend Scott. His father's a fed."

Now Violet snorted. "You're worried about that? We can take care of them, easily," she told him confidently.

But Garrett shook his head. "Oh, they're not who are worrying me. It's their sons who worry me. McCall is an Alpha and Stilinski is a beta who was close to actually becoming a Beast."

"Yeah, almost. So, instead of going after some lone beta tonight, why don't we go for them instead? Take care of all of our problems and beat everyone else to the real prize."

Garrett gave her a look. "Are we going to do this again?"

"It's a lot of money." Violet narrowed her eyes at the expression on his face. "Why are you so scared of them?"

"I'm not scared, I'm concerned. And you should be too. You forget, McCall is an Alpha who went up against a whole Alpha Pack and he was the one who came out still standing. The only good thing is that if you stay out of his way, he'll leave you alone. His friend Stilinski, not so much. He goes out of his way to make everything that happens in this crummy town his business."

"So, he's still just another beta. No different than the last two."

"Tell that to the Argent family and all of their hunters. Oh, that's right. Most of them are dead. They were considered the best, the elite, and some baby beta came in and took most of them out one by one. I don't want us to be more notches on Stilinski's belt." He then went to wipe at his mouth nervously. "Stiles won't ignore anything and won't rest until he finds out everything. We probably should've cleaned up after ourselves and not just left the bodies lying around. Now he and the rest of McCall's pack are going to be trying to look for us and it won't be long before they make the connections."

"You won't have to worry about them. I brought a little something to give us an edge." She then went to her bag and brought out a little vial that had a yellow liquid in it. "A surefire way to get the drop on any werewolf. Even an Alpha."

"Wolfsbane?" Garrett narrowed his eyes at it. "I thought it was supposed to be purple."

"Not this species." She began to prepare it. "It's very potent, very rare, and very _expensive_ ," she said emphasizing the last part. "All they need is just a small nick and it will work fast. I'll handle the rest."

Garrett eyed the wolfsbane and pulled out his lacrosse stick. He then released the hidden blade inside. "Is that so?"

Violet smirked at him. She then handed it to him so that he could begin to coat his blade with it. "Go for the beta. And he'll bring the Alpha. And the Alpha will bring the almost Beast."

Garrett eyed her for a moment before he took his stick and made a slash movement through the air with it. "I'm in. As long as we still have the element of surprise. It's too risky if they're onto us."

Violet went over and wrapped herself around him. "You worry too much," she said flirtatiously. "Besides, I bet they're not even that close."

* * *

Scott, Stiles and Kira were in Coach's office, searching through the lacrosse sticks. Taking the ends off to look for a knife hidden inside. They just finished looking through all of them when Scott slammed the one he was holding onto the table.

"This is pointless," he told them. "Most of the team plays with their own gear."

Kira gave the pile a depressed look. "Maybe, instead of looking for a lacrosse stick with a hidden dagger in it, we should be getting the game cancelled."

But Scott shook his head. "No, the game's the best chance to catch him red handed."

Stiles shook his head this time. "Yeah but what if his hand is red because he just stabbed another person to death. Which, by the way, could either of you guys. Or me."

"Or Liam," Scott added. "We don't have the whole list yet. You, Malia and he could be on it."

"Did you tell Liam about it?" Kira asked them.

"No," Scott shook his head. "He's just barely gotten passed his first full moon. He needs to learn to keep himself calm and he can't do that if he has to worry about assassins coming after him every other minute." Scott remembered how stressful it was when he first turned and he had to worry about the Alpha stalking after him so much of the time.

"We don't know that for sure," Stiles told him. "Remember Scott, the Walcotts were on that list and they started getting killed before we even met Liam."

Kira's eyes widened. "Yeah. He wasn't supernatural yet. He might be the only one of us that's safe for sure."

Stiles pointed at her. "Exactly. Look, we don't know who made the list and how and when. I mean, who's been going around making a supernatural census in this town? All we know is that it had to be after Kira and her family got to town. If it was right after then they might not have included Malia because she was a coyote until two months ago and everyone thought I was human again."

Kira shook his head. "But how would they even know about me?"

"They know about everyone," Scott mumbled.

"Well, I think Kira is right. We should work on getting the game cancelled. We don't need it to catch him. I just need Liam to help me find out from Mason who ordered the keg. If it's someone on the team then we know it was the same person that killed both Demarco and Carrie and we could go after them without having to risk us getting caught by surprise."

Scott narrowed his eyes at Stiles. "I'm not afraid of them."

Kira went to look at Scott. "Neither am I."

Stiles looked back and forth between both of them. "Great. That's good for you two," he said with a smile. He then went and slapped a good many of the sticks off the table. "Because I'm terrified! And I don't even know if I'm on the list for sure or not."

Kira jumped at the sudden move and Scott held his hand out to him. "Stiles," he started.

But Stiles cut him off. "Scott, these are professional killers. It's their profession. They actually make their living, out of killing. One of them used a thermal cut wire that takes people's heads off and another hides a knife in a lacrosse stick. And let's not forget the one that had no mouth and was prepared to set off a claymore mine, in a school, just to try and get Derek and didn't care about who was with him. Like my dad! Who knows who or what else is coming and what they or the ones already here are willing to do? For all we know, they are probably watching us and waiting for the next time we're alone, or better yet, when we're surrounded by people so we can't use our powers." Stiles was a little breathless by the time he let that all out, not from exertion but from fear and panic.

Scott shared a look with Kira who seemed terrified. He didn't want to admit it but Stiles brought up a very good and scary point. Suddenly, the thought of cancelling the game didn't seem so bad anymore.

"Wait," Kira mumbled. "What if you're right? This one on the team could be watching us and might be planning something at the game. And if he is, what happens when he sees that we're trying to stop the game all of a sudden? Wouldn't that tell him that we're onto him? What might that make him do then?"

Stiles lowered his gaze a bit. "I didn't think about that," he admitted.

"He might decide to run," Scott threw in.

"Or worse," Stiles mumbled. He then heavily sighed. "I still don't like it but maybe the game is the best and safest chance we have to catch him. We need those Cypher Keys and to find out more about the Benefactor."

Scott's face hardened a bit. "Then let's go find Liam right now. He can talk to Mason and get us one step ahead of him."

Stiles lifted his head up to catch him in the eye and then nodded.

* * *

Liam was out in the parking lot, watching as the bus with the Devenford Prep lacrosse team started pulling in. Mason was standing next to him, getting ready for the inevitable explosion that was sure to take place here in a few moments. He looked around to see if there were any teachers around when he spotted Scott and Stiles heading in their direction.

"Hey Liam, what's with you and those juniors?" Mason asked him.

That made Liam finally look away from the bus. "What are you talking about?"

"Uh, you know the ones on the team. Scott, the team captain and his friend Stiles. Are you hanging out with them now?"

Liam blinked. "What makes you think I'm hanging out with them?"

"Well Stiles, I kind of spoke with him earlier. From how he was talking about you, it sounded like you were hanging out with them."

"He was looking for me?" Liam asked.

But Mason shook his head. "No, actually he was looking for me. Said that he needed to talk."

Liam narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "About what?"

But before Mason could tell him more, the bus door opened and the students from Devenford Prep started to get out. Liam's eyes hardened when he saw a particularly tall teen step out. His former lacrosse teammate Brett Talbot was smiling as he came out with his friends though he instantly went cold when he seemed to spot him. Liam found himself moving for him but Mason was trying to hold him back.

"Whoa, Liam," he said trying to take him by the arm. "No, no."

But Liam pulled away and kept going. He didn't know why but a part of him didn't want to back down from Brett. Couldn't.

"Brett!" he called out.

"Oh, here we go," Mason sighed to himself as he trailed after him.

Liam's cry had attracted some attention, including Scott and Stiles. Brett stood there and waited as Liam went to stand in front of him.

Liam glared at him and bit the inside of his cheek before he started speaking. In a low and rough tone of voice. "I just wanted to say...have a good game," he finished, a bit calmer as he held his hand up.

Brett eyed Liam's hand for a moment and then burst out laughing. Liam slowly pulled his hand away as Scott and Stiles shared a look.

"That's cute Liam," Brett chuckled out. "Is that what they said in Anger Management? Apologize and everything's fine." Brett's posture then changed. He started to glare at Liam and bare down on him. "You demolished Coach's car."

"I paid for it," Liam grunted out.

"Yeah you're going to pay for it. We're going to break you in half out there. And it's going to be all your fault."

Liam started to dig into his own palm until blood started to spill through. It looked like he was getting close to losing control and ripping everyone around him apart and Scott and Stiles took that as their cue to move in.

Stiles moved Liam out of the way and had the other team's full attention now on him. "Hey there prep school students. Welcome to our little public high school." He then looked over at Scott who had wrapped his arm over Liam's shoulder and was smiling at them too while subtly trying to keep Liam restrained and calm. "I'm Stiles," he told them. He then moved to Brett and brought his hand out much like Liam did. But, like with Liam, the guy didn't shake it but just kept a glare on it. Stiles rose his eyebrows at him. "Quite the firm handshake you got there." But when Brett moved to catch Stiles in the eye, Stiles found his smile fading and a small hardened look his own setting in. Stiles tensed and his instincts told him to stand firm and not back down. He kept his eyes locked with Brett's as they went on to seemingly size the other up in front of everyone. Stiles kept his eye contact was resolved to not be the one to blink and back down first.

After a silent couple of seconds, it seemed to everyone that it might be Stiles that fought with Brett instead of Liam. Scott felt something seemed to stir in Stiles and faintly heard a small growl erupt from his friend. "Stiles," he said to him, worried that he might go on and try to rip this guy apart.

But Stiles didn't break eye contact with Brett. He kept staring hard at him and after about three more seconds, it was Brett that ended up backing down. Scott called for his friend a little louder than before and Brett looked over at Scott for a moment before looking back at Stiles whose stance hadn't changed a muscle.

Brett then took a step back from him before looking at the rest of his team. "C'mon guys, let's go." But before he could leave, he looked over at Liam. "Liam, I'll be seeing you on the field. Try to see if you could go over a minute without pissing your new coach off, okay?"

Liam let out a heated groan as he moved to go for him but Scott moved and grabbed him by his shoulders from behind while Stiles pushed at Liam's chest to keep him in place. Some of the Devenford players snickered at that as they went off after Brett. Scott then moved to drag Liam away with Stiles running along with them. Mason watched them go with a concerned look on his face. And, as they were walking off, Brett turned and looked over as the three of them disappeared into the school. An intrigued look was on his face.

Scott and Stiles quickly yanked Liam into the locker room as he started to growl. They looked over and saw that his fangs were starting to set in and his eyes were glowing.

"The shower," Scott coughed out.

They threw Liam to the shower and turned it on to let cold water start to pour on him. They then used their power to keep Liam there as he tried to fight through their hold.

"Liam, settle down," Stiles grunted.

"Stop Liam!" Scott yelled out. "Calm down!"

He kept growling and barking at them but they kept him firmly restrained. The water kept pouring over them and Liam's resistance started to get weaker before he soon started to settle. Liam's head was down and they couldn't see if he had gone back to normal or not.

"Liam?" Stiles asked as he still kept a firm hold.

Liam nodded and looked up to show that his face was normal. The two of them let him go and Liam let his back lie flat against the wall as he slid down to sit on the tiled floor. Scott went to turn the water off as Stiles backed away a bit to wipe some water off his face.

"The car you smashed, I thought it was your teacher's," Scott said to him.

"He was also my coach. He benched me for the entire season," Liam explained to them.

"He benched you?" Stiles asked him before looking over at Scott.

They knew from what the Sheriff dug up that Liam had done this because a teacher tried to discipline him. Benching him must've been it.

"Why, what did you do?" Scott asked him.

"I got a couple of red cards," Liam mumbled almost to himself.

"Just a couple?" Stiles threw in sarcastically.

Scott sighed. He could feel that Liam was feeling embarrassed and ashamed. He remembered what else Stiles' dad had dug up on him. "Liam, we know."

"Know what?"

"About your condition, I.E.D."

Liam head rose up. "What? How?"

Stiles rose his hand up. "My dad's the Sheriff, remember?"

"What happened Liam?"

Liam sniffed a bit as he looked away from them. "They sent me to a psychologist. To be evaluated. They saw that I had a history of anger and that's when they diagnosed me."

"Yeah, but they gave you something for it, right?" Scott asked.

"Risperdal. It's an anti-psychotic. But I don't take it."

Stiles narrowed his eyes. "Oh, why?"

"I can't play lacrosse on it. It makes me too tired."

Stiles tilted his head up a bit. "You know Liam, when we first met I thought you were a werewolf."

That made Liam look over at him. "What? Why?"

"I felt something in you, stirring. Like you were struggling to keep something in. I thought it was a wolf. And I felt it again when we confronted you after morning practice. Trying to keep in all that bottled and rising anger, that must've been what I picked up from you."

Scott shrugged his shoulders. He guessed that was one mystery about Liam solved then. But there was now a new issue to deal with. "Okay, I think you should bail out of the game. Tell Coach that your leg is still hurting."

"No, no," Liam said picking himself up. "I can do this. Especially if you're there."

"Liam, it's not just about the game. We think the one that killed Demarco is someone on our team."

"Demarco?"

"Remember the body from the other night?" Stiles asked him. "He's a werewolf who brought the keg to the party. We actually need your help with that."

"How can I help?" Liam was doubtful he could do much of anything about that.

"We need you to talk to Mason," Scott told him.

"Mason?" Liam then looked over at Stiles. "He said that you tried to talk to him earlier."

"Yeah. Mason knows who ordered the keg for the party. Whoever it was is probably the one who killed him and would be on our team, but Mason wouldn't tell me who."

Liam's face paled a bit. Not out of shock, but fear.

"You know who it is," Scott realized.

"Uh, I don't know who ordered it, but I do know who's the one that paid for it. And he is on the team."

"Who?" Scott and Stiles asked together.

"Garrett."

* * *

Noah Stilinski got a quick call from his son and was given the name of student that they had learned had paid for the keg from the party. He was happy to see that his son was starting to share more of what was happening around him and not just trying to keep it to himself like before. His personal assistance with their situation with Liam, and his talk with Henry Tate helped open Stiles up to the notion to not keep things from him to try and protect him. Though he was shaken with the whole attack with the Mute, Noah had argued with his son and pointed out that though he and Scott were werewolves, there were things that he could do about the assassins that the two of them couldn't. Like get warrants and freeze accounts. Collecting bounties wouldn't be so appealing if they can't even touch any of it and Stiles was sold on the idea. Immediately, he went to look up this kid's file and found a few sketchy holes in his history. Apparently, he was an emancipated youth and was living under what seemed to be a falsified address. If he killed Demarco then he would have an sudden 250K deposit in his account. Maybe one that could be traced back to the source. But, he would need help. Special help.

He left his office to get that person's help but saw that his temporary office was empty. He caught sight of Parrish and flagged him down.

"Parrish, have you seen McCall anywhere?"

Parrish shook his head. "No, I haven't really seen him since Friday. I think he said that he was going to be working to track down a person of interest for a case."

"What kind of person of interest?" he asked.

* * *

Braeden was sitting at the table of her motel room, looking through frame after frame of traffic cam footage. There was a luke warm cup of coffee right by her and she moved to grab it to take a sip. But before she could move it to her lips, there was a knock on the door. Braeden knew it couldn't be the cleaning woman as she had placed the Do Not Disturb sign on the door. She quickly moved to pull a handgun and hide it at a spot on the back waistline of jeans while she had a small blade ready in the palm of her hand. She then looked through the door's peephole and settled. She pocketed the knife and quickly moved the handgun out of her hiding spot and threw it out of sight before she opened the door a crack.

"Can I help you?"

Raphael McCall gave her a small look. "Yes. I believe you're the only one that can."


	10. Deadpool part 2

Chapter 10: Deadpool part 2

Liam was down the hall and saw that the coast seemed clear. He looked around the corner and let his eyes fall on Scott and Stiles down the hall. After he told them about Garrett paying for the keg, which he remembered Mason telling him as he was recalling the party that he thought Liam missed, Stiles quickly called his father with the news. After that, Stiles then asked Liam where Garrett's locker was. Now he was being their lookout while Scott and Stiles searched.

"I knew there was a reason I didn't like this guy," Stiles muttered before he moved in on the locker.

Scott nodded at Liam, who nodded back to let them know it was safe, before looking over at Stiles who was trying to open it. "Got it yet?"

"Almost," Stiles breathed as he turned the dial slowly. "I've always wanted to do this." He heard the click and then went and opened it. "Yes," he said as he let his gaze wander inside. There were quite a few things in here. Stiles took a sniff but shook his head. "No scent of blood."

"Look inside. Maybe he left a copy of the Deadpool in there." Stiles quickly began to rummage through Garrett's things. "Careful. We don't want him to know anyone was in here," Scott reminded him.

"Yeah, I know," Stiles said as he looked through a textbook for any hidden papers. He then put it in and looked over at where Liam was keeping the lookout for Garrett. "It's nice to have someone else on watch for a change."

Scott's eyebrows rose up a bit. "You were on watch only once." He knew Stiles was thinking back to the time that Scott had to sneak onto the bus where the Alpha had attacked the driver.

"Yeah, one time too many." Stiles then opened a notebook and a slip of paper fell out. He unfolded it to find that it was a hard copy of the Deadpool. The first part of the list. "Scott."

Scott moved to look over his shoulder to look at the list. Over Demarco's name there was a checkmark made in a red pen and another next to Carrie's. "It is him," he breathed out. "He's the one that killed Demarco and Carrie."

"Yeah," Stiles mumbled darkly. Two werewolves that were innocent and minded their own business before they were killed to fill someone's pockets. He could only imagine, Garrett and that smug face of his, as he was standing over Demarco's decapitated body and Carrie's stabbed one, as he thought of nothing but the money that their corpses had brought him.

Stiles' breathing became a little hard and deep at the dark thoughts running through his mind. Scott stiffened as he heard that and looked over to see a small sapphire gleam pass his friend's eyes as he glared at the paper in his hands.

Scott's jaw tightened as he quickly looked over at Liam who was still watching out for Garrett for them. He looked uncomfortable and Scott could understand why. This guy was a friend of his and he was helping him and Stiles break into his locker and look through his stuff. They had to hurry this along. "Anything else? Are there more parts to the Deadpool in there?"

Stiles took a deep breath and began to check the rest of the book but nothing else fell out. "No. And it doesn't look like there's really anything else in the locker. No other parts of the Deadpool or any blades or thermal cut wires."

"Okay, well put it all back. We got to get out here."

Stiles quickly put the paper back in the book and checked to make sure that the locker looked as untouched as possible before closing it. They then moved over for Liam who was waiting anxiously.

"Well?" he asked.

"It is him," Scott told him. "He has a copy of the list."

"And the names of the last two were marked off," Stiles added a little darkly.

That made the new beta cringe inwardly. "Am I on it?" Liam quickly asked him.

Scott shook his head. "No, we only found the part that we already have."

"Not the rest?"

But Stiles shook his head. "No. If he has it then it's probably on him."

"So, what do we do now?" Liam asked them.

Scott and Stiles shared a tense look.

"We get ready for the game," Scott told him.

* * *

Agent Raphael McCall was still standing at the doorway of the motel room as Braeden hadn't moved to let him in. She was giving him a wary look.

McCall straightened himself up a bit. "I'd show you my badge but I have a feeling that you already know who I am."

She nodded. "I know who you are."

"And I know who you are. Well, who you were. And what you used to be. Not really sure who or what you are now, Braeden." Braeden stared at him for another moment before she stepped back and moved aside so he could come in. He stepped inside and she closed the door after him. "You've gotten quite good at moving about while staying hidden. It certainly wasn't easy to find you, even with my connections. Took me a couple of days before I finally tracked you down at this place."

"And how did you manage that?" It seemed that she made a mistake somewhere that she didn't want to repeat.

But Raphael just folded his arms and smiled slightly. "I'll tell you, but first, you have to tell me something."

"And what's that?"

His eyes narrowed a bit. "Everything."

"Everything?" she echoed.

"I know that you've been hanging around with Derek Hale. And I know that Derek Hale is connected to quite a lot of the incidents that have been popping up around Beacon Hills over the last year. Incidents that seem to be connected with a number of people including the Sheriff, his son Stiles."

"And your son Scott," she finished for him.

Raphael's jaw tightened a bit. "So, you do know. I've been trying to make sense of everything that's been happening in the town in the last year but I haven't been able to come up with anything."

"Then you haven't really been trying to make sense of it," Braeden calmly told him.

"What?" he said getting a little defensive. "Somehow this all involves my son and now my ex-wife. Of course I'm trying to make sense of it."

But Braeden just sat down and folded her arms at him. "You're trying to find a sensible and logical answer to all of it. If you really want to know and understand what's been happening, then you'll have to let yourself be open and ready to insensible and illogical. Much like your priorities."

"What does that mean?"

"It means that while you are using all this time and energy to unravel your son, ex-wife, and their friends' hidden secrets, their lives are in danger."

Raphael tensed. "What are you talking about? What danger?"

* * *

Stiles went off and met Malia and Lydia before they could leave school so that he could update them on what was happening.

Lydia sighed after she heard everything. "So, if you catch this guy then you could get the rest of the list?"

"That's what we're hoping for," he told her.

Lydia nodded before she narrowed her eyes at Malia. "Great, so can I lose my shadow here then?"

But Stiles shook his head. "No, Malia stays with you."

"Why?" Lydia asked.

"Yeah, why?" Malia said, shaking her head.

"Lydia, did you forget that that there's still a 15-million-dollar price on your head? You need to be protected. Besides, in case that Garrett doesn't actually have the other parts, we'll still have you in reserve to get the rest. And, you might be able to still help us find out who might be next on the list to be targeted. Maybe even something about the Benefactor."

Lydia huffed out in irritation before she just stomped off.

Malia sighed. "Do I really have to stay with her?"

Now Stiles sighed. "Yeah, I'm sorry. Scott, Kira, Liam and I will be at the game so there's no one else." Stiles saw that she still looked unhappy about all of this. "Something wrong?"

She deflated as she looked over where Lydia was standing off to the side, looking as irritated and grumpy as ever. "You, Scott, Kira and even Liam are going around, stopping someone from killing us, and all I've been doing is watching Lydia as she stares at papers and music players. It's boring and annoying and so is she. I can do more to help if I'm with you then with her."

"Malia," he said dropping his voice a bit. "We need to watch and protect each other right now, okay? Instead of hanging over Lydia, try to help her with focusing her powers. Help her, like I helped you."

Malia just gave him a look. "How? I don't know anything about banshees. You all say how smart Lydia is and she can't even figure it out. How can I do anything to help her? I'm not smart, not like you and her."

Stiles narrowed his eyes at her. "Malia, you are smart."

"Like with algebra?" she grumbled. "I still think its random numbers that make no sense."

"Actually, it's really hidden numbers in place of letters." Malia just looked away from him at that. Stiles sighed. "Okay, maybe not math smart, but you're life smart."

"What?"

"Lydia is going through something new, scary and knows next to nothing about how to handle this. Just like you did when you first turned into a coyote. You were a kid and no one showed you how to do any of it, but you managed it for eight years. You had if you were going to live out there in the woods and you figured it all out on your own. That's smart. I don't think I could have ever done that. Suddenly survive out in the wild. I'd never even been on a camping trip before, which actually makes me wonder how my dad bought that I was going camping so easily those weeks ago," he trailed off. But he shook his head. "Point is, Lydia is going through the same thing. She has no one to teach her how to think or feel as a banshee. Help her find the way to think and feel, like you had to, okay?"

Malia turned and looked back over at Lydia. Her face softened as she saw the lonely and depressed look on her face. She then let a deep sigh loose and nodded. Stiles then went to give her a soft kiss on the lips and rubbed his nose against hers for a moment before they broke apart. He then went off and left the two of them alone with each other.

* * *

Noah was in his office as he went and checked to see if his gun was fully loaded before he then went and placed it in his holster. McCall still couldn't be reached but he couldn't afford to waste more time looking and waiting around for him to help catch this guy. Just going on the first part of the list, chances were pretty high that Scott or Kira was in Garrett's line of sight. But if he really did have access to the other parts, and if his son was on it. That was as far as his thoughts went when he moved to get his jacket on. He had just finished putting it over his shoulders when there was a small knock on his door. He turned around to see that it was Derek Hale.

"Oh good," he said as he moved over to him. "The boys found one of the assassins. I'm going to head over to the school and bring him in before the game starts."

"Yeah, Scott texted me," Derek told him. "But, I think I might have a lead on something else."

"What?"

"Kate," he said simply. "I don't know if you heard from your son and Scott but, Argent is back in town."

Noah's face hardened a bit. "Yeah. I heard," he said to Derek in a bitter tone. "But they didn't say anything about where he was."

"That's why I came here. He asked to meet me at the vault. I'm going to go and see him and I'd like for you to come along with me."

"Me, why?"

Derek's eyes narrowed. "Because, I think there's a chance that Argent could lead us to the Benefactor."

* * *

Lydia was in the music room, sitting at the piano as she randomly pushed at the keys. School had just ended so most of the students had left to go home with only a few sticking around for after school business before the game tonight. Malia was hanging around at the corner of the room, running a finger across a cymbal before she went and gave it a tap making it let off a hard ring.

Lydia huffed in aggravation. "That's not helping."

"Well, tell me how I can help then."

"I can't because I don't know how. No one has been able to help me with this. The closest I got to advice on this was from Peter and he wasn't much help with that. All he said was that my scream dulled out the noise."

"Your scream," Malia mumbled as she let herself get lost in thought. "Stiles said that you screamed when you tried to find Barrow and you found out where he was hiding after you did."

"Ms. Blake once called me the Wailing Woman."

"Then maybe you should scream right now."

"Scream? Just like that? I don't think that's how it works."

"Says who? You said it before, all we have are claws, fangs and glowing eyes. None of us hear voices in our heads. None of us are banshees and we can't teach you. All I know is that when you aren't hearing or seeing things, you're screaming. If you can't hear or see anything, then just scream."

"Malia," Lydia tried to argue. This whole idea was ridiculous.

"Scream Lydia," she pressed at her.

That made the banshee roll her eyes. "Oh, fine." Lydia let out a small scream. It was quite pitiful. It was one that a girl would do if they were slightly startled. Lydia let her eyes wander around. Nothing was different. "See? This was ridiculous."

Malia snorted. "No, that scream was ridiculous. Stiles told me that the last one you did nearly made his ears bleed. Mine aren't even itchy."

"Because I don't feel like screaming. The last time I screamed like that was because I felt everything happening around me all at once and it made me want to scream like that."

"Who cares if you feel like it or not. Just scream. Scream as hard as you can. As loud as you can. When I have to roar, I don't have to think about how to roar. I just do it. It's like Stiles told me. Do or do not, there is no try."

Lydia rolled her eyes. "Forgive me if I don't follow Stiles' sage advice this time."

"Lydia," Malia tried but Lydia cut her off.

"Malia, this is stupid!" Lydia shouted at her.

Malia was getting aggravated. Why did Stiles and the others have so much faith in Lydia? She was so smart that she understood everything about math, especially the parts that Malia couldn't even pronounce correctly but Lydia couldn't manage a simple scream? And calling it stupid…was she saying that she was stupid? Malia was starting to grow beyond frustrated with her, with everything. She went on to grab Lydia's wrist tightly and let her blue eyes flare up as she got up in her face.

"Scream Lydia!" she said in a deep, hard voice.

"Let me go!" she said trying to pull away

"Scream!" Malia roared at her.

Lydia felt the pain in Malia's grip and her own frustration began to rise even higher. Lydia then just threw her head back and screamed. Really screamed. Loud. As she did, Malia quickly let her go and went for her ears. Lydia's eyes widened and her scream started to fade until no sound came out but her mouth stayed slightly open as her eyes stared off for a bit.

Malia was rubbing at her ears as they were ringing a bit but she noticed how Lydia was so still. "Lydia? Is something happening?"

Lydia didn't answer right away. She kept staring off in the distance as she heard the distant sounds of wolves and they were howling and crying. "No," she mumbled. "But, something is going to happen."

"Something bad?" Malia asked hesitantly.

"Very bad," she told her blankly.

Lydia then left the room with Malia following after her. Her eyes started to dart around at the few people who were still in the halls. However, she couldn't hear anything from them as they walked passed. All she could hear was the distant echoes of screaming people. She then heard a metallic clicking sound that was then followed by some pained screaming. As she got outside to the parking lot area, she then heard what seemed like gunshots and whooshing sounds that she recognized as arrows flying through the air. Then there was a loud and hard roar which snapped her out of her daze.

Malia went over as she saw that Lydia suddenly stopped and seemed to be trying to settle her breathing down. "Lydia? What is it? What's wrong? Is it about tonight?"

She shook her head. "No. There's so much more to worry about than tonight." She then headed off for her car. She wanted to get the hell out of this place. It was giving her a heavy case of goosebumps.

"Lydia?" a voice called out making them stop.

"Parrish?" Lydia said as she caught sight of him. The deputy was moving for them.

"So, you are here."

Malia narrowed her eyes at him. "Who is this?"

"He's one of the deputies from the Sheriff's station," Lydia explained to her before turning back to Parrish. "What are you doing here?"

"Looking for you," he answered.

Lydia was surprised. "For me?"

"I found someone wandering the streets. When I pulled over to help her, I was surprised who it was. I was taking her to the station when she suddenly told me to stop and turn the car around. Told me that I had to go to the school. She also gave me your name."

"Who?"

Parrish looked over to her car and Lydia and Malia looked over to see that the girl sitting in the passenger seat was Meredith. She was looking off with a blank look on her face but she suddenly looked up and met Lydia's eye.

* * *

Night had fallen and the school's lacrosse field was starting to fill with spectators and players. Scott and Kira walked onto the field together, with their jerseys on.

"You nervous?" he asked her as they reached the bench.

Kira looked over to where Garrett was sitting with his lacrosse stick and looked back at Scott with a tense smile. "About someone trying to kill us? Or about my first game?"

Scott smiled at her. "Both."

They then looked up as some players from Devenford passed them. They were big players and seemed to look older than they were.

"Definitely both," she gasped out. She then looked over to see that Garrett was fixing up the string on his lacrosse stick. "Shouldn't we be doing something?"

Scott shook his head. "There's too many people around. We do something and somebody could end up getting hurt. We have to wait for the Sheriff. He could do something without too much trouble."

"Could he really cause that much?" Kira asked him.

Scott let his eyes fall on Garrett who had a small smile on his face as he started twirling his stick around in his hands. He looked so normal. You wouldn't be able to tell that he was a killer just from looking at him. "I hope not," he mumbled. "Just in case, keep an eye on him, okay?"

Kira nodded. "Okay," she said in a small voice.

Over at the stands, Stiles was moving passed them and making his way to the field but was on the phone with his father. He let his eyes roam off to glimpse Garrett.

"Okay Dad, I have eyes on him now. Please tell me that you're on your way." He heard his father sigh through the other end.

"I'll be at the school but, _son, I have to see to something else first. I can't be at the game just yet_."

Stiles turned away from looking at Garrett and lowered his voice. "Okay but tell me that you are sending some of your deputies at least."

" _Uh, no. Stiles, I'm sorry but I wasn't able to find anything concrete enough to call for an official investigative arrest_. _It will only be me_."

"Dad, Garrett had a copy of the Deadpool in his locker with checks next to Demarco and Carrie's names. And it looks like he's getting ready to check off another name. He has that look in his eyes." He looked over and saw that while Garrett seemed to be just biding his time and waiting for the game to start, he had a certain bloodthirsty gleam in his eye that he had seen in the eyes of the hunters he'd come across in the past. Just like with them, Garrett's began to make his skin crawl.

" _Okay, Stiles, just make sure that you keep a close eye on him. But don't do anything crazy_. _You're completely surrounded by people. He can't do anything as long as there are people watching so all of you stay in plain sight. Don't wander off alone. I'll be there as soon as I can."_

Stiles sighed. "Okay, but just do what you got to do and get here fast."

The Sheriff hung up the phone as he looked over to the passenger seat to see that Derek was looking over in his direction before looking back on ahead.

"Don't worry. Your son and Scott know how to take care of themselves. You can trust them to make sure that this guy won't have his way."

He nodded. "I know." But he quickly recovered to focus back at the task on hand. "You expect Argent to give us trouble?"

"Not if he has something to hide."

"From what I can tell, that man always has something to hide," Noah mumbled as he got ready to make a turn and then sped up a bit.

* * *

Liam was standing out on the field, giving a stink eye over at Brett, who was staring back at him with the same kind of look as he was getting changed. He was then joined over by Mason but he kept his heated gaze on Brett.

"I don't care if he is a foot taller than me. I think I can take him," he hissed out with a nod. After all, he was a werewolf now. Brett shouldn't stand a chance.

Mason nodded. "Yeah."

Liam looked over and noticed that Mason was staring intently at Brett too but his look was the polar opposite of his own. "What do you think you're doing?"

Mason seemed to snap out of it. "What? Me? Agreeing with you," he said quickly. "I'm being agreeable."

"You think he's hot, don't you?" he asked a bit annoyed.

"No. Not at all." Mason then let his gaze fall back on Brett who was still looking at them as he kept changing into his pads. "Maybe."

Brett then put his jersey on and finished changing but kept his glare in their direction. Liam returned to keeping his hard face on but he then saw Brett's expression suddenly fall a bit. He seemed to look a bit uncomfortable. Maybe even nervous. Liam straightened himself up, it looked like he was actually starting to get to Brett. At least he thought that before hearing a small cough sound behind him. He and Mason turned to see that Stiles was standing there and was grinning at them before he rose his eyes up to look over at Brett. Liam turned and saw that Brett was staring in Stiles' direction. Stiles stepped over to Liam's other side and he narrowed his eyes towards Brett. He and Brett kept eye contact before Brett dropped his gaze and headed off to join a group of his teammates. Stiles nodded to himself. After this afternoon, he began having a theory about Brett. One that might've just been confirmed.

Mason gave Stiles a quick look before turning to Liam. "Uh, I'll see you later." He then left casting an uncomfortable look Stiles' way before he walked off.

"Something wrong with your friend?" Stiles asked as he watched Mason walk away at a fast pace.

"What? Oh, no, I just think you might scare him a little."

Stiles' eyebrows rose up in surprise. "I scare him…cool," he said as an afterthought. But he shook his head. "What about you? You okay?"

"You mean about the game or about Garrett?"

They both took a moment to look over to see that Mason had wandered over to say hello to Garrett and to wish him luck at the game.

"Both," Stiles sighed out.

Liam shook his head. "I still can't believe it. He's been my friend ever since my first day here. It's hard to think that someone on our team is actually a murderer." He then looked over and noticed that Stiles didn't seem to feel the same way. "Aren't you surprised?"

Stiles shrugged. "Doesn't come as the biggest shock actually. It's not exactly the first time its happened."

"What?"

"Uh, I'll tell you about it another time. For now, just be careful and don't let your guard down around him." Liam nodded and Stiles looked away from Garrett before he looked back over at Brett. "Hey Liam, what exactly do you know about that guy?" he said pointing his chin over in Brett's direction.

"Who, Brett?" he asked looking back at the guy. "Well…I know that he has a sister. Other than that, nothing."

"Does he ever cause trouble?" Stiles asked thoughtfully.

"He wants to destroy me," Liam huffed out.

Stiles sighed. "Other than that."

"Well…no," Liam admitted. "Why?"

Stiles gave him a small look. But before he could really say anything, Scott and Kira moved over towards them.

"Stiles, where's your dad?" Scott asked him.

"Is he close? The game's about to start," said Kira.

Stiles let a tired breath out. "He's coming but…he said that he has to look into something first."

"So, then what do we do?" Liam asked them as he watched Mason give Garrett a friendly good luck pat on the shoulder before heading for the stands. He saw that Mason was heading over to sit with Violet, Garrett's girlfriend. He could only imagine how this could hit them both. His hand tightened into a small fist.

Scott saw that the teams were starting to move out into the field to begin the game. Garrett was in first line with them. He could also hear that Liam's heartrate was climbing a bit and he was starting to be a little agitated. "Liam, tell Coach that you're sitting out the game."

"What? No," he quickly said. "I told you I'm fine. I could do this."

Scott narrowed his eyes at him. "Liam, I'm serious. You haven't mastered controlling your shifts yet. Things are already going to be risky enough with Garrett out there. We can't have you turning in the middle of the game."

"I'm playing," Liam told him before he stubbornly stomped off to get his helmet and stick.

Scott let a frustrated puff out. "Why won't he listen to me? He can't play like this. He's barely a week into all this. He won't be able to control himself, especially during a game with both Devenford and Garrett."

Stiles nodded. "Yeah, a newbie teen wolf that can't control himself yet, won't listen to reason and can only think about playing in his first game. I can't even imagine how frustrating that must be to deal with," he said with a small smile.

Scott narrowed his eyes at Stiles who was still smiling but giving him a pointed look. Scott just shook his head and headed over for the Coach leaving Stiles and Kira behind.

"What was that all about?" Kira asked him.

Stiles gave her an amused look. "Oh let's just say, Karma, she's a real bitch."

The Beacon Hills team was running around, moving their get their helmets on and sticks ready. Coach Finstock was moving about, clapping at them to hustle.

"Let's go! Let's go, come on!" Coach cried out to everyone as Scott came over to him. "McCall, get your ass out onto the field!"

"Coach, it's Liam. His leg is still healing. I don't think he should play."

"He said its fine."

Scott resisted the urge to growl in frustration. "As captain, I'm suggesting that Liam sit out the game."

That actually made Coach start to laugh. "Oh, and as President of the United States, I'm vetoing that suggestion."

"What if he gets hurt?" Scott spat back.

"Hey Liam," a player from Devenford called out. "Think fast!" He then launched a lacrosse ball at him but Liam quickly caught it.

Coach smiled. "Oh, he plays." He then blew the whistle before Scott could argue some more.

Liam then grabbed his helmet and put it on as he headed for the field, the Devenford players all in his heated sights. Scott, Stiles, and Kira all watched as Liam stomped off for the field before they grabbed their own helmets and hurried to the field themselves as Coach chanted each of their names.

* * *

Deputy Parrish showed the three girls into the Sheriff's office which was currently empty.

"The Sheriff told me that if either of you ever did come around here, to bring you into his office," he explained to them.

Lydia nodded. "Thank you," she said to him.

Parrish nodded as he gave her a small smile.

"Where's Stiles' dad?" Malia asked him.

"Oh, he left a while ago. I think he's going over to the high school to catch his son's game." He then sighed. "I'm sorry but I'm going to have to call Eichen House and tell them that we found their missing patient."

But Lydia stopped him. "Uh, would you mind if you give us some time first? We kind of need to talk," she said as she looked over at Meredith who was sitting in one of the chairs, very still and patiently.

Parrish gave the silent girl a look. "Why? Is it because she's psychic too?"

Lydia rolled her eyes. "Are you still on about that?"

He looked back over at Meredith. "She escapes a place like Eichen House, wanders all the way through town, all so she could look for you. I pick her up and she suddenly tells me that she knows where you are and I find you, exactly where she said you were."

"At the school. You don't have to be psychic to guess that's where I was," she tried to explain away.

"After the school day was over?" he countered calmly.

"It was a lucky guess," Lydia told him.

"You called me," Meredith said suddenly. "Asked me to see you."

"Yeah, I called her. When she was still in Eichen House."

But Meredith shook her head. "You called me in the car."

"What?"

"Yeah," Parrish told her. "As I was driving her to the station, she suddenly looked at me and said that her friend was calling her. She said that you needed her to come find you right away at the school. When she that I needed to take her to see Lydia, I headed straight there." That made Lydia's face fall a bit. "Are you still trying to pass yourself off as just a normal girl that's always at the wrong place at the wrong time? That you just found all those bodies, even the ones at the Walcotts before we did, by coincidence?"

"I…I can't explain it," she said weakly.

"And you don't have to. Look, it's obvious that the Sheriff knows or he wouldn't keep asking for you and all of your friends to be shown in whenever you're all around. I told you, I try to keep an open mind. Which I'm starting to think is a necessity around here. I'm just trying to help. I just wish you could be more open with me on what's going on so I could."

"Lydia," Malia said to her. There was an urgent look in her eyes.

Lydia knew that she wanted to start to talk to Meredith and find out more about the Deadpool. They needed to talk to her and it was best to do it here, in the safety of the Sheriff's station then somewhere else especially with a 15 million dollar price on her head. She then looked back at Parrish. "Okay, but we do have to talk to her and it could take a while. If you have to, you can call the Sheriff and ask him if it's okay."

"I don't think I have to call and ask." He then walked over and closed the door. "But the others in this station will have noticed that I brought you all in here so we don't have much time. I'd say maybe fifteen to twenty minutes until one of them comes around and I'll have to make some calls. So if you're going to talk to her it'll have to be now."

"Thanks," Lydia said gratefully to him. Parrish then moved off to the side, next to Malia, to give them space to talk freely. Lydia then reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone as she held it out to her. She knew that phones were what seemed to guide Meredith last time when her friends were trying to find her. Seemed like the best place to start. "Aren't you going to answer it?"

Meredith nodded as she took the phone and went to lean over to her. "It's not ringing," she whispered in her ear. She then moved to sit back down.

Lydia felt her nerves begin to get worked up. It looked like this wasn't going to be easy, then again, when has anything around here been?

* * *

At the Beacon Hills sign, Derek and the Sheriff made their way to it and looked around to see that they were the only ones around. They could faintly hear the sounds of the screaming people at the lacrosse field at the other side of the school which meant that this part of it was virtually deserted.

"Where is he?" the Sheriff asked.

"Over here." They looked over to see Chris stepping out from a shadowed corner. "Sorry but seeing as I'm a wanted fugitive now, I can't really be out in the open, especially around here."

He and the Sheriff shared a tense look. The last time these two had seen one another was when Chris held a gun onto Stiles and Noah had held a gun onto him. Derek didn't give their tension any real thought as he went to extend his claws and place them into the locking mechanism. He turned it and made the vault open up. They then stepped inside and their eyes quickly fell to the safe that was in the center and wide open.

"That's where the bonds were?" Noah asked Derek.

"Yeah," Derek nodded. He then turned to Chris. "Maybe you should have a look."

Chris moved over to the vault and looked it up and down as he surveyed the damage that he saw from the attack. He then heard a slamming sound. He looked up and saw that Derek and the Sheriff were standing in front of the now closed door and he realized that appeared to be the only way out. The two of them were giving him somewhat hard looks. "What's going on?" he asked them.

"We need to talk," Derek told him.

"I thought that was why you called me. To talk about Kate."

"Yeah," Noah nodded. "But, we also need to talk about something else. Or rather someone. Goes by the name, The Benefactor."

Chris nodded. "You know, I don't need my years of training to know when I'm being interrogated. What exactly are you two accusing me of?"

"That you either know who this guy is," Noah then unholstered his gun. "Or you are him."

* * *

The game was in full swing. Both Beacon Hills and Devenford Prep were roughly even for a while before Brett went and scored the very first goal of the game. Devenford cheered while Beacon Hills had their spirits drop a bit. As Brett passed by, he gave Liam a smirk from under his helmet which made Liam begin to breathe harder.

Scott, Stiles and Kira noticed Liam getting worked up and shared nervous looks themselves.

"Why do I feel this will end badly?" Kira panted out.

"Because it usually does," Stiles slurred to her. Stiles' eyes locked in on Liam who was still glaring off at Brett as the kid still gave him a smug, taunting look. It seemed that Brett was going to further tease and provoke Liam when he was already close to losing control. "But not if I can help it. Scott, come with me," Stiles said quickly.

"What?"

"Just come on. And follow my lead."

"Stiles?"

Scott wondered what was going on but didn't get a chance to say more as Stiles was already heading off. Stiles walked over to stand at Liam's side, a bit ahead of him. Scott made it over and stood at Liam's other side, a bit ahead of him also. Stiles then just stared off at Brett and Scott noticed it and copied it. Their looks caught Brett's attention and the smug look was quickly wiped from his face. Scott didn't know why, but found himself growling under his breath as his eyes narrowed even more at the guy. Liam let a frustrated puff out of his nose as he still glared at Brett, but he seemed to straighten himself up a bit and his breathing became a little lighter. Brett tensed at the three pairs of hostile looking eyes at him and started to back off and away. Scott's eyes widened at Brett's reaction to them. It looked like the kid was scared of them for some reason.

Stiles then loosened himself up. "Okay," he said looking over at Liam. "He shouldn't bother you now. Well, at least until after the game's over."

Liam blinked and shook his head. "What? What do you mean?"

"What was that?" Scott asked him.

Stiles blinked. "Scott, didn't you sense it?"

"Sense what?"

But their Coach blew the whistle over at them, making the three of them jump.

"McCall, Stilinski, Liam, get back to your positions already! Hustle!"

"I'll tell you later," Stiles said as he separated from them.

Scott went over and put his hand on Liam's shoulder. "Liam, if you're getting worked by a few looks and laughs from the other team, what's going to happen if they get rougher with you? You should be sitting this out."

"No, I can do this Scott. I can handle it. I can play," Liam told him as he rushed to get to his position.

"Liam," he cried after him but the kid didn't stop. He then sighed as he moved to get to his spot. As he got there, the other problem of their night was walking by him. Garrett. He was calmly watching him and Scott let his eyes focus on him as the guy seemed to send him a small glare. Scott felt things were only going to get worse. He was then joined by Brett as they knelt to get ready for the next set.

"So, Liam went and got himself two big bad bodyguards to watch his back. I guess it's a step up from two cops pulling him back."

Scott sighed in frustration. "Look Brett, I know that you guys feel that you have to pay Liam back, but could you just hold it off? Just for one night?" he tried to ask nicely.

Brett rose his head a bit, like he was giving it a thought. "Yeah, I guess I can do that."

"Yeah?"

But then Brett snorted. "No."

Then the whistle blew and Brett swiped the ball and took off before Scott could blink. Liam tried to charge for Brett but he was blocked by two other players who pushed him onto his back. The hit made a few people in the stands, like Mason and Violet, jump and wince. Brett gave a small smirk back his way as he charged for the goal but he was then gored by a red streak. It was Stiles and he looked up at the ball that had been thrown into the air and he caught it in his net. He then looked out and passed the ball over to Kira. Kira then ran down the field and jumped and darted passed the Devenford players that came after her. None were able to even touch her as she then got to the goal. She then spun around and launched the ball out where it got passed the goalie and into the net with a hard whack. There was a whistle followed by hard cheering. Kira had just tied the game with Beacon Hills and Devenford one goal apiece.

Stiles walked over to Brett who was still lying on the ground. "You want to reconsider?" Stiles said in a low tone.

Brett let a frustrated huff out before he went and picked himself up and walked off. He looked over and saw that Liam was being helped up by Scott and stopped to send him a small glare. One that Liam returned as he started to move for him. But, he was stopped by Scott.

"No, Liam, enough," Scott hissed as he held him back.

He was then blocked by Stiles who rushed over to help Scott. He then turned back and pointed at Brett. "You, keep walking."

Brett glared a bit at Stiles and then at Scott, who was sending him a small frustrated glare himself. The kid then headed off as Scott and Stiles kept their hold on Liam until he started to settle back down.

Across the field, Garrett was watching them all with a small grin on his face. He then turned his lacrosse stick in his hand and moved his fingers over to the switch he had built into it.

* * *

"I'm not the Benefactor," Chris calmly told them. "Why would I be?"

"Because whoever planned this heist had to have known that my family had the bonds and have had access to Kate," Derek explained calmly though still alert. "And you knew that Kate was still alive, didn't you?"

Chris was silent for a moment as he closed his eyes and took a stressful breath. "Not at first," he admitted. "I only found out when you gave me the shell, after Ethan and Aiden were attacked." He then reached into his pocket and took it out. He then tossed it over to Derek and he and the Sheriff looked over at the symbol engraved on the bottom. "That mark belongs to my family."

"And you decided not to warn anyone that she was still around?" Noah accused him.

"I had just lost my daughter!" Chris spat at him. "I needed time to mourn and process."

His words made the Sheriff deflate a little bit, but he was still on guard. "And in your grief, you didn't try to find someone to blame? Ease your mourning by putting together a list with werewolves and other supernatural people around here? Isn't that how your father tried to process his grief? By trying to kill my son and his friends."

"Yes, but that's not me," he told them. "You've got the wrong person."

"You sure? The very first Cypher Key was Allison. That's an interesting choice for a code to unlock a supernatural hitlist."

Chris tightened his jaw a bit before he moved his narrowed eyes over to Derek. "Listen to my heart Derek and see if I'm lying. I am not The Benefactor."

Derek listened in and dimly heard his heart beat. His face fell when he realized that it wasn't as loud as he was used to hearing someone's heart.

"Derek?" Noah said to him.

He sighed. "He's telling the truth, at least about that. And you have no idea who the Benefactor is?"

"No I don't."

Derek shook his head. "Not even a suspect…like Gerard?"

Chris was taken aback. "My father is confined to a hospital room."

"And you're saying that he's not capable of organizing something like this?" Noah asked him pointedly. "Getting other people do his dirty work for him?"

That made Chris look away from the two of them as he let himself be lost in thought. After a moment, he looked back up at the two of them. "I'll look into it."

"Fine." The Sheriff still glared at him a bit but put his gun away. "But, let me tell you right now. If I find so much as a word that you are connected to any of this, I won't stop until I've hunted you down." The Sheriff's phone rang and he answered it when he saw that it was the station. "Hello…Parrish? What's wrong?" He then listened in for a moment before he nodded. "Alright. I'll be there as fast as I can." He then hung up and looked over at Derek. "Meredith broke out of Eichen House and she's at the station with Lydia and Malia." He then looked over towards the exit, helplessly.

Derek understood. "Don't worry. I'll stick around and watch over Stiles, Scott and the others."

"Thank you." He then opened the door and headed up the stairs and out of the vault.

Derek turned back to Chris. "He really doesn't trust you."

Chris just nodded. "That's actually smart. To be honest, if I was anyone else, I wouldn't trust me either. Do you?"

Derek stared at him for a moment. "After we find Kate, I'll decide then."

"It won't be easy. My sister is trained to hide and if what Scott told me about her is true, her new abilities and instincts will make it harder to track her down."

"What are you going to do when you finally do?"

Chris lowered his gaze a bit. "I'm going to put her somewhere where she'll never hurt anyone again."

"What, you have some kind of werewolf jail?" Derek asked skeptically. "She won't go quietly."

"I don't expect her to. But, I'll do what's necessary."

Derek then stepped over to him. "What if I asked you not to?" That made Chris look at him in surprise. "She took something from me." He then revealed his new eyes. "At first, I thought it was a part of my past, but I started to lose something else. My sense of smell. And now, my sense of hearing is starting to fade." Derek ducked his head a bit. "I'm losing my power."

* * *

It had already been almost twenty minutes and Lydia had made no more progress with Meredith than she did when they first started. Malia and Parrish were still sitting off to the side, watching as Lydia kept trying to get Meredith to talk to her. Parrish just hung up the phone after reaching the Sheriff to let him know that Meredith was here, along with Lydia Martin and his son's girlfriend.

Lydia decided to try to get through to her by her memories. "Meredith, you came here to help us, remember?"

"You called me, remember?"

"You mean my scream at the school?" Lydia looked over at Malia. She remembered how werewolves, and she supposed werecoyotes too, could signal each other through their howls. She knew that Scott and Stiles had told her that her screams had been heard by them and drew them to her a few times before. Had her scream reached out to Meredith in some special banshee way?

But Meredith shook her head. "That was the second time."

Lydia then remembered, Meredith had already left Eichen House before then. She had already been looking for her. "What was the first time?"

She leaned in closer to her. "Remember? You called me."

"Well, what did she call you for?" Malia asked her.

But Meredith didn't answer her. She stayed silent and Lydia deflated a bit.

"Meredith, can I ask you a question?" Parrish asked as he moved over for them. Meredith nodded and he knelt in front of her, next to Lydia. "When you need help, when you need to find something, is there someone you reach out to? Maybe someone you call?"

Meredith shrugged a little uncomfortably. "It depends. Different people for different things."

"So maybe there's a number that can help us. Someone that we can call?" he said going with it and making Lydia smile at him a bit.

Meredith nodded. "Yes."

"Would you be okay telling us?

"Yes," she said. Lydia then held out her phone and was ready to start dialing. "It's 2, 4, 3, 6."

She stopped there. It was only four digits. It wasn't a full telephone number.

"Uh Mere, we need a few more numbers," Malia told her.

But Meredith shook her head. "No. That's the number."

Malia shook her head now. "Phone numbers are ten digits."

"That's the number," Meredith repeated.

"Meredith," Lydia spat out. "Phone numbers always have ten digits."

"That's the number," she said again.

Lydia was starting to lose her patience. "Meredith!"

But Parrish went to take her by the shoulder. "Lydia, whoa," he said pulling her back a bit. "If she said that's the number, then that's it."

Lydia slapped his hand away. "It can't be!" She then turned and raged over for Meredith. "Meredith, what are the other numbers?! Tell me!"

Meredith quickly brought her hands up to cover her head as she shrunk into herself. "Those are the numbers." She was now reduced to tears.

Malia went to grab at Lydia's wrist. "Lydia, I can't believe I'm actually saying this, but you're being too harsh. Calm down."

Lydia huffed out a heated breath from her nose as she glared down at Meredith, who was squealing and crying under her breath.

Parrish sighed. "Alright, I think that's enough. I'm going to go and call Eichen House now." He then went over to Meredith and held his hand to her. "Meredith, come on," he said gently to her.

But Meredith shot to her feet and glared at him. "That's the number!" Her face was crazed and savage as she went and looked over at each of them.

Parrish then slowly reached for her shoulder and escorted her out of the room, leaving Lydia alone with Malia.

* * *

Stiles was then put up to lead the play this time. He was matched up with a pretty big and thickly built guy who had some fuzz on his chin.

"Uh, you do know that anabolic steroids are illegal in the United States, right?" Stiles just randomly threw at the guy. That made the opposing player glare at him but Stiles just smiled at him. "You have a lot of facial hair for a teenager. What are you on anyway? HGH? Gamma radiation?" But the whistle blew and Stiles had quickly scooped the ball up and dashed around the guy before he knew what hit him. Stiles ran off and quickly passed the ball across the field to Kira, who caught it as skillfully as before. "Go Kira! Kira run!" he shouted at her.

Kira then took off with the players nearby running over for her. They tried to stop her but she darted off side to side in order to avoid them as she moved up the field.

"Kira, pass it!" Coach yelled at her. "Pass the ball!"

But Kira didn't pass. She kept running for the goal and when she reached it, spun her stick and shot the ball into the goal and scored again for Beacon Hills, putting them in the lead. The stands erupted into full cheers and her fellow players were cheering in celebration. Stiles was hopping in place, waving his stick around in the air while Scott was just smiling in place.

But one on their side wasn't as happy. "Yukimura!" Coach yelled. "Get over here!" Kira took off her helmet and ran over to him, all smiles and laughs. "Take a seat, you're benched for the rest of the game."

Kira's face quickly fell. "What? Why?"

"You didn't pass."

"I had an open shot," she argued.

"The play was for you to pass. This is a scrimmage. It's about teamwork Yukimura. So, you're benched."

Scott had heard everything and shared a sad look with Kira before she moved to sit on the bench. Scott was depressed that he couldn't keep playing alongside her but he turned and caught Garrett's eyes as he passed him and the assassin went and looked him square in the face before he took off for a distant part of the field. Scott was still for a moment and only moved again when he saw that Stiles was coming over.

"Scott, what was that? It was like, he was marking you or something."

"I know," he mumbled.

Stiles narrowed his eyes over at Garrett. "You don't think he's going to go for you next, do you?"

Scott just stayed silent. There was a good chance that Garrett was. Why wouldn't he? After all, Scott was worth 20 million dollars, that made him a high value target. Very high value.

Finally, Scott broke his silence. "He can't, at least not now. And not here. Not with so many people having their eyes on us."

Stiles tightened his grip on his lacrosse stick. "We don't know that for sure. I mean, that didn't exactly stop Gerard and the Kanima last year, did it?"

Scott went to look over at Liam. "Kira was watching Garrett for us but now I have to watch for Garrett but also have to keep an eye on Liam. I can't watch Garrett if I'm making sure that Liam stays under control."

Stiles narrowed his eyes at Liam. "Then let me do it."

"What?"

"Let me handle Liam."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah Scott. Besides, the real problem with him is Brett, but I don't think he'll be trying anything on him again. Not so soon after we made our point. Well, after I made it stick."

Scott narrowed his eyes. "Stiles, what's going on? What is it about that guy? I've had this weird feeling, ever since you made us stare him down with Liam."

"Scott, you really don't know?"

He shook his head. "Know what?"

* * *

Lydia was stressing over her phone, specifically at the four random numbers that Meredith had given her. Malia was over by the office's window, watching as Parrish and the Sheriff, who had just returned, were talking together in front of Meredith. Occasionally, the two officers threw looks over in their direction. Malia then turned away and looked down at the paper where Lydia had written the numbers. 2-4-3-6. She stressfully reached for them and crumpled the numbers up. Random numbers that made no sense. She then froze. That's what she had said earlier to Stiles about Algebra. He said that it was all letters in place of numbers. Her eyes then went to the phone nearby and saw the numbers with letters hanging above them.

"Or numbers in place of letters," she mumbled.

"What?" Lydia slurred out.

"The numbers. In algebra, letters are really numbers, right?" Lydia nodded. Malia then grabbed the phone and put it in front of her. "What if the numbers are actually letters."

Lydia looked at the dials and seemed to get it. "Or a name." She then grabbed a pad and started to write the letters that fit for each of the numbers. She then quickly tried to find the right combination and her eyes widened. "Oh god." She then circled five letters that made up a name. And not just any name. She quickly went for her computer and pulled up the Deadpool algorithm. She then entered the name for the second Cypher key: AIDEN. At that, the next set of names began to appear.

 **Kate Argent 10**

 **Noshiko Yukimura 5**

 **Joanne McLaughlin 1**

 **Steve Grace 1**

 **Tom Hill 1**

 **Brett Talbot 1**

 **Mieczyslaw Stilinski 10**

 **Richard Benefield 250**

 **Jack Marsland 250**

 **Joy Waldrop 250**

 **Cheryl Calix 250**

 **Jordan Parrish 5**

Malia and Lydia shared a look at the names before the coyote darted off to open the door. "Sheriff!" she cried out. "We need you, right now."

He and Parrish shared a look before the deputy nodded and told him that he had Meredith handled. Malia pulled the Sheriff over while Parrish moved into the room.

"Hey, is everything okay?"

Lydia nodded. "Yeah, everything's fine."

Parrish looked at her like he didn't totally buy that but nodded just the same. "Okay, well, do you maybe need a ride home?"

"Uh, no. But thank you. For everything."

He smiled. "Yeah, I told you, I just want to help."

"I know and you did," she told him.

He then closed the door and Lydia turned back and had her eyes lock on to the name at the bottom of the list. Jordan Parrish. She then looked over and saw the Sheriff take off. It looked like he had just heard about Stiles definitely being on the list. Malia then went to grab her phone to try and call Stiles.

* * *

The ball was passed to Brett and he headed down the field, trying to shake off the opposing player after him. Liam growled as he got Brett in his sight and Stiles quickly saw what he was going to do.

"No, Liam!" he called after him.

But Liam charged for Brett who was too distracted by the other player to notice him. Liam managed to charge into him but the other player didn't stop in time and ended up colliding with them. Soon, three bodies flew through the air and landed hard on the ground. The crowd all gasped in unison and the referee blew the whistle. Liam was rolling on the ground, grunting in pain. Brett wasn't moving at all but he was hissing and shouting helplessly on the floor. Stiles went and took Liam's helmet off before he grabbed him by his arms and hoisted him to his feet as Scott ran over to them, ripping his helmet off. He looked over at the third guy and saw that it was Garrett. He was wearing a small smirk on his face as he turned his lacrosse stick in his hand.

"Did he cut you?" Scott asked Liam.

"No," Liam shook his head.

"Scott, I smell blood," Stiles told him as he ripped his own helmet off.

"But, I'm not bleeding," Liam said looking down at his arm. "Just this." The bone was popped out and it was very noticeable.

Stiles moved over to block Liam's arm from sight and nodded to Scott. He then went and popped it back into place as Liam let a pained yelp out through his clenched jaw.

"It looks like Garrett missed," Scott sighed in relief.

"Miss?" he asked.

Scott nodded. "It's you Liam. He's after you."

"Maybe you are on the next part after all," Stiles mumbled.

Liam was breathing heavily as the referee called for a stretcher to be brought out for Brett who still wasn't moving.

"How hard did you hit him?" Scott asked.

Liam shook his head. "I didn't. He hit me," he argued.

"Liam!" Coach cried out.

They looked over to see the guy making a 'Come here' movement with his fingers and he didn't look too happy. Liam sighed as he headed over to him.

Stiles leaned in closer to Scott. "Scott, something isn't right here."

"Everything isn't right here," he hissed.

"Yeah, maybe not. So then something else isn't right here."

"What?"

"It doesn't make sense. I saw the hit. It wasn't enough to hurt Brett that badly. Especially in his case," he said in an undertone.

Scott narrowed his eyes in thought. "And you're sure."

Stiles nodded. "Definitely. When have I ever been wrong?" Scott gave him a look. "About this," Stiles said quickly. Scott's look didn't let up. "When you felt something too?"

"Yeah," he mumbled. "Maybe we should tell them. Come on."

"I better check in with my dad and the others first," Stiles said running off ahead of him.

Scott walked and met up with Kira who was off the bench and heading for him.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah," he told her.

They were then joined by Liam and he looked pissed. "Well, Coach says I'm out. For the rest of the game."

"Okay, Liam, Kira, there's something that I should tell you."

"What?" Kira asked.

But before Scott could say anything, Stiles ran over to them. "Guys, I've just got a call. Lydia just broke another part of the list."

Liam's eyes widened. "Am I on it?" he asked quickly.

But Stiles shook his head. "No, I am."

"Stiles," Kira said softly to him.

But Stiles shook his head. "That's not all, there's someone else here that also is on the list." He then looked over at Scott. "It wasn't Liam's blood I smelled."

"It was Brett," Scott breathed before his eyes widened. "He wasn't going for Liam, it was him."

Scott then ran off to try and get to him.

"Wait, Brett," Liam said in disbelief. "Why is he on it?"

Stiles sighed. "Because, he's a werewolf." He then looked over to where Garrett was pacing around on the field. "And he's who Garrett is after."

* * *

Brett was trying to get away but could only crawl from the body of the knocked out EMT. He lifted his head to glare at the attacker with his golden eyes. "What the hell did you do to me?"

Violet smirked down at him. "You were cut with a poisoned blade. It was laced with wolfsbane. It won't kill you, but this will." She then tightened her cut wire and activated it's thermal feature.

Brett's eyes focused on it as it glowed red and grew hot. He tried to crawl away. "Why? Why are you doing this?" he cried as he tried to get away.

"Because you're worth a lot of money Brett," she told him happily.

She then went over and wrapped the wire around his neck and began to tighten and pull on it. Brett started to choke as the wire cut into his throat and prevent him from breathing. His skin began to burn as the wire dug in deeper as she moved to take his head off. But there was a noise outside in the hallway and Violet let Brett go.

Scott ran into the hall and quickly saw that the EMT was knocked out, right outside the locker room. He checked to see if the man was fine before looking inside. His eyes widened when he saw Brett lying face down on the floor. For a moment, he thought the kid was dead but Brett's eyes shot open. He looked scared and fearful for a moment and the next thing Scott knew, a wire was wrapped around his throat.

Violet quickly surprised Scott and pulled on the thermal wire to try and choke him. "And he was worried but I got you. I got an Alpha and then we'll get the rest of your merry pack."

"I wouldn't be too sure of that."

Violet turned around and saw Derek Hale standing outside the door. He was glaring hard at her and moved closer to Scott. "Come any closer and I take his head off."

But Derek just folded his arms and smirked at her. "Will you?" he said smugly as he went to lean over to the side.

Violet's face then dropped when she heard a deep rumbling sound. She then turned to see that Scott was growling under his throat and was starting to turn around. He pulled the thermal wire away from his throat and let his red eyes gleam at her. She gasped as Scott pulled the wire out of her grip and then quickly grabbed her by the throat. He then threw her out of the room where she flew and the back of her head slammed into the wall, knocking her out.

* * *

Stiles was watching Garrett, intently, but the guy was completely calm. He wasn't making a move for the school. He just sitting at the bench, looking down at his phone, waiting. Was his blade laced with something? Something that could kill a werewolf with one scratch? No, he and Scott were sure to have smelled something like that. Whatever it was, it had to be subtle in order to send Brett over to get treated. But he seemed full of anticipation. And Stiles didn't like it. Or the fact that Scott was taking too long.

"Hey Liam," he said drawing the kid's attention. The fact that his archenemy was a werewolf too seemed to have really thrown him. "I'm going to check on Scott and Brett. Don't let Garrett out of your sight, okay?"

"Okay," Liam nodded.

As Stiles walked off towards the school building, Garrett smirked after him. This was going completely to plan. He could hardly wait for the Benefactor's message saying that they were now millions richer.

Stiles was pushing his way through the doors and his ears perked up when he heard the sound of a girl's scream. He braked in his run when he saw Derek standing outside the locker room door, next to the unconscious form of Violet. He could faintly smell the scent of burnt flesh and his eyes widened at Scott stepping out of the room, his hand rubbing at his neck. He saw Scott go and toss a slightly glowing red wire over Violet and he realized what it was. Stiles glared down towards Garrett's girlfriend and partner. He saw now, it was a trap. He realized that it wasn't one assassin with two weapon choices but two assassins with different weapons, working together. And, he realized that Liam was left alone with the other one who would no doubt begin to wonder where his beloved kill buddy was. Derek caught his eye and the older werewolf gave him a small nod. The action caught Scott's attention and he turned around just in time to see Stiles huff out angrily and run back for the field. Stiles slammed his way out the doors. He back for the field. Back for Garrett. He wouldn't let him get away with this. Any of it.

"Stiles!" Scott called after him. He could only imagine what Stiles might end up doing now.

But Derek grabbed at him to keep him from going after him. "Scott, he's doing what he feels is necessary. Right now, you have to focus on what is necessary for you to do."

Scott grit his teeth as he turned his gaze away from the door that Stiles disappeared through. Derek was right. Right now, he had to see to the other assassin, and deal with Brett who was still lying unconscious and hurt. He went over and picked up Violet. "Call the Sheriff."

* * *

Chris was at his lockup, looking through his stock. The very last time he had been here was when he had come to grab the silver arrowheads that Allison had molded. This was the last place that he and Allison had had a moment together. Where he last held her. He then shook himself back into focus. It wouldn't do to lose himself in nostalgia right now. He needed to grab what he could and head out. He was looking through some old ammo boxes when he heard a small noise. He then calmly put the box he was holding down and reached down for a switch at the side of the workbench. There was an electric buzz and the body of a man fell from suffering the fallout of the trap. He then reached for his gun and turned and found himself face to face with Severo. Or, what resembled Severo's face. Chris saw that there were half healing bruises at his forehead, cheek and the bridge of his nose seemed to have a bandaged cut at the bridge of it. But he managed to still make himself intimidating.

There was then some movement to the side and Araya Calavera calmly walked over into Chris' line of sight. "In Mexico, this is what we call a standoff."

Chris gave her a small glare but didn't drop his gun. He then looked over at her partner. "Severo, you've seen better days," he said with a hint of humor mixed in with his serious tone. "Ran afoul of a certain teenage werewolf I presume. Nasty, believe me, I know."

"Yes, you do, don't you?" Araya chuckled humorlessly. "All too well I'm sure."

"Don't worry, the next time I see that damn lobo, he's getting a good bullet between the eyes," Severo spat in a hard tone as he kept his gun pointed and locked on Chris.

Chris' eyes narrowed even further. "Don't even think of going near any of them."

"That sounds almost like a threat." Araya then started to shake her head and click her tongue disapprovingly. "Ah Christoph, if I didn't know better, I would think you're trying to protect those animals."

"What are you doing here?" Chris cut in. "Hoping to cash in the Deadpool going around?"

Araya chuckled. "Please. We will not lower ourselves to actually contend with scum who hunt only for money. Hunting is a way of life Christopher."

"Then what is this about?"

"The woman we hired to find Kate hasn't responded in days. You know her, don't you?"

"Braeden," he told her.

"Maybe your sister got to her? Maybe killed her. Maybe, we should stop hiring other people to do our work. Maybe all this Deadpool nonsense should show us why we should do it ourselves." She then went and pushed on both Chris and Severo's guns and made them lower them from each other. "We're hunters Christopher. All of us, we follow a code. Severo, what is our code?"

"We hunt those who hunt us."

Araya nodded. "Christopher, what is our code? Say it with me. We hunt those who hunt us." But Christopher stayed silent. "Remind him Severo."

"We hunt those who hunt us," Severo spoke out.

"Say it, Christopher," Araya hissed at him. But Chris began to move to leave. "Say it for your wife Victoria," she said going after him. That made him stop. "Say it for your daughter Allison. Do not dare dishonor them any further. Say the code. Speak the words," she spat at his ear. "Say it! What is our code?!"

Chris was shaking a bit as he glared out ahead of him. "We hunt those…who hunt us."


	11. Orphaned

Chapter 11: Orphaned

In an apartment, Chris was on the phone talking with his daughter with a small smile on his face. "Well Allison, I'm sure that it will turn out great," he told her with a small laugh in his tone. "Save it for me to see when I get back home, okay sweetie?" There was then a small pause. "Oh, I think I'll be away for maybe a bit longer. The people daddy is working with don't leave a lot of time for me to come home right away." He then dropped his gaze and looked over in the next room where there were four men cleaning, checking and loading all their guns. One person was at a corner, sharpening a set of knives.

Gerard was heading over for him and he heard Chris mutter a quick goodbye to his daughter. "How's my granddaughter doing?" he asked.

"She's fine. Getting excited about painting her next picture." His head bowed a bit. "She wishes that I was there to see it when she finishes."

"Does she understand why you can't be there?"

"She understands as well as any nine-year-old should."

Gerard nodded. "I know that you want to see more of her. Especially in her adorable years, but we have a sworn duty. One that is demanding and necessary."

"I know that." He looked over at the men and he did a mental count of the ones they lost when Gerard had accepted an invitation to a peace summit a few months ago. He also noticed that one was still unaccounted for. "Kate isn't back yet?"

"No, I sent her on another reconnaissance run. Trying to learn more from tailing and watching the younger Hales."

"They're just children," Chris argued.

"For now," Gerard told him pointedly. "And they are our best chance to learn more about Talia Hale and her pack."

The sound of the front door opening drew their attention and they were pleased to see Kate was walking in with a calm look about her.

"Please tell me that there's something saucy around here with my name on it?" she sighed to them as she moved to remove her leather jacket.

"What news?" Gerard asked her.

She smiled. "Well, I managed to speak with Derek Hale again today. Normal teenage stuff."

"He doesn't suspect you?"

She shook her head. "Not at all. He thinks I'm nothing more than the sweet, understanding and beautiful T.A."

"And what about the older one?"

"Haven't seen her around."

"Laura Hale is graduating next month. She simply could be busy preparing to leave town to go to college or some other life pursuit. It is something normal for people her age to be occupied with," Chris reasoned out.

"Yeah right," Kate muttered under her breath.

"Forget about the older one," Gerard told them sternly. "You've gained a foothold with the boy and that should be sufficient enough to learn everything we need about the pack. Remember, it's his mother, the Alpha Talia who is the real prize. I want nothing to jeopardize bringing her down, am I clear?" he said to them with a harsh authoritarian tone.

"Yes," both Chris and Kate told him in unison.

"Good. Now, I'm going to have to leave tomorrow. One of my contacts over in Nepal requested my help. I'm taking all but three of the men so it'll be up to you two to oversee things here while I'm gone." Gerard then turned to Kate. "You keep working the boy until he gives you what we need. Stay close until you get it from him."

She smiled. "Oh, it'll be my pleasure."

Gerard's face hardened but he didn't say anything more to her. He then turned to his son. "Have you tracked down the rest of the pack yet?"

Chris shook his head. "No. Outside her children and brother, we only have eyes on that one local beta that we know is connected to her."

"Work the beta then. Use him to find out more about the others."

"He's just a contract painter," Chris meekly pointed out.

Gerard gave him a pointed look. "Is that supposed to be a problem?"

Chris saw that Kate was also looking at him pointedly and he found himself letting a small huff of air out. "No. It isn't," he answered.

"Good. I know you two won't disappoint me." Chris and Kate bowed their heads slightly which he took for confirmation. He then left the room, leaving the siblings alone.

Kate then turned and gave her brother a playful smile. "You keep the others with you."

"What about you?"

"Don't worry. I can get by. Besides, from how it's going with me and Derek Hale, I won't need them."

"And just what do you have planned to do with him?" Chris asked her.

Her smile widened. "Oh, wouldn't you like to know."

"Just don't forget about the job or the code Kate."

The joking air around Kate vanished as a focused look came over her. "Oh, don't worry...I haven't forgotten about any of that. Have you?"

Kate then turned to leave herself and Chris watched her go with his eyes slightly narrowed but he then took a deep breath and moved to get back to his own work.

 _Kate then woke up as she woke up from dreaming of her first time in Beacon Hills that felt like a lifetime ago. So much had changed since then. For starters, she was now alone, and sleeping in a car on some off beaten road close by Beacon Hills. She couldn't afford to be get any kind of room because she knew that there were a lot of people looking for her now. She had to seriously rough it out and it was rough. Now, it was raining outside and there was only a small bit of light from the moon overhead giving her visibility. Her eyes fell on the cassette tape that she had found a while back. She decided to play it again. It was a lecture that someone had made about the Hale family that had settled in Beacon Hills. How they were a family of born wolves and there would be a few that didn't inherit the trait but those that did were trained from an early age to control themselves by the use of a tool. The triskelion._

* * *

Kate Argent was now calmly surveying the damage made by the fighting down a while ago. She had been targeted by a small group with pretty impressive equipment. However, that did little good against her and her Berserkers. They smashed their vehicles, disabled their guns and tore through their gear like cardboard. She walked through the mess of bodies, scattered bullet casings and burning cars, making her way to the sole surviving assassin that was being hoisted above the ground by a Berserkers as the others were deeply snarling nearby.

"Big fancy guns. Coded death lists. So called assassins. And not one of you can answer the simplest question. Who's paying the bills? So, I'll ask again. Who is the Benefactor?" she asked, stopping in front of the survivor.

The guy's face was a picture of fear as the Berserker held him up even higher. Tears were even starting to leak out of his eyes.

Kate just rolled her eyes. "Yeah, everyone always says the same thing. No one knows who he is or where he is." She then went and began to speak in a mocking baby tone. "It's all done electronically. I can't help you. Please, I'm bleeding to death. Please, stop. It hurts."

"Then what do you want from me?" the guy cried to her.

She held up the cassette she still had. "Been a long time since someone's made me a mixed tape. You got one too, didn't you?"

He shook his head. "No, no, but I know who did." he said quickly. "They, they look like kids. Teenagers. They're called the Orphans."

But that was all he said before a shot rang out. Kate stumbled a bit as she felt a bullet enter her side. She then turned to see that one of the others was still alive and had shot her. She grit her teeth and marched over to him as she cocked her shotgun. The guy on the ground was quickly trying to reload his gun but couldn't do it before she had gotten to him. But before she could shoot him, Kate then felt a burning pain suddenly travel through her. Not understanding or caring about what was happening, the assassin tried to finish loading his gun as Kate gasped out through the pain. She dropped her gun as the pain exploded inside her and she roared as she fully shifted in front of them. She then bared her teeth at the guy and began to maul him to pieces. She then turned to the one she was talking to before and he started to beg and say he would tell her everything. But, Kate didn't care anymore. She then grabbed him from her Berserker's grip and started to slowly tear into him too.

* * *

Garrett was still waiting on the bench with his phone. The game was about to restart soon and the Coach was starting to ask around for where McCall and Stilinski. Seeing McCall run off to the school, heading right into their trap made giddy with anticipation. That got even bigger when his buddy Stiles took off a few moments later, in the same direction. But, his glee turned to worry as there still was no new messages after two minutes. No mention of the confirmation of Talbot, McCall or Stilinski. He didn't like this.

Liam was off to the side, sitting on the bench, nervously tapping his feet on the grass. The game was about to restart and there was no sign of Scott or Stiles anywhere. He lifted his gaze when he noticed that Garrett was trying to subtly leave. He looked over and saw that Kira was standing with her father as she was talking on the phone. Stiles asked him to make sure that Garrett stayed in sight and he was leaving. But, what could he do? He didn't know but he found himself running after him.

He managed to catch him in the parking lot. "Hey Garrett!" he called out making him stop and rip off his helmet. "What's up?"

Garrett turned to face him. "Nothing," he said, smiling at him.

He was acting like his usual self and if Liam didn't know what he knew, he would've believed it. "Well, where are you going? The game's about to start up again."

"Oh, I just need to get something." He then turned to keep going.

Liam needed to stall. "Uh, what is it? Maybe I could take care of it for you?"

"No, that's okay."

"Really, it's no trouble." Liam pressed on. "I've been benched so Coach won't miss me."

Garrett grit his teeth as he kept his back turned to him. "I'll be fine. But thanks for offering Liam," he said trying to turn him away.

Liam kept tailing him though. "No, really it's okay. I mean, what are friends for right?" Suddenly, Liam got a whiff of something that seemed to leave a bitter taste in his mouth. It seemed to be coming from Garrett's direction.

Suddenly, there was a loud blaring siren firing off from two squad cars that were coming into the lot. At the sight of them, Garrett dug into the inner stitching of his glove and pulled something out. He then quickly turned toward Liam and flung it at him. Liam didn't even have time to blink as his eyes were staring directly at the pointed edge of a throwing knife which was a few inches from him. It was being held by Stiles who had caught it before it could find its way into the boy's face. Liam then saw that there was some drops of blood oozing from Stiles' hand where the edges of the blade had dug into his skin.

"I don't think so." Stiles then took the caught knife and threw it behind his back. He then looked down at his bloodied hand and saw that the cuts were already closing up and he then fisted it when they were fully healed. "It's over Garrett."

Garrett glared at him. "I don't think so."

"Oh but I do. We already have Violet. Scott stopped her before she could kill Brett."

Garrett's glare deepened. "You're lying!" he spat.

"Sorry, no more cash prizes tonight," Stiles snarled as he narrowed his eyes even deeper at him. "Now, make things easier on yourself and give up." Garrett threw his gloves off to the side and gripped his lacrosse stick and pressed the button to release the blade at the end and held it in his hands like a spear. Stiles eyed it for a moment and shrugged. "The hard way then." He then struck his arms down and brought out his claws as his eyes flared blue and some fangs leaked through his jaws as he let out a small growl.

Liam moved back as Stiles and Garrett charged for each other. Garrett swiped at him, trying to cut him with his blade but Stiles ducked and twisted himself out of the way of every strike. Garrett tried to swipe at his head and spear him but Stiles wolfish reflexes helped him avoid every hit. Stiles tried to claw at him but Garrett spun himself back and made Stiles only hit air. Garrett then quickly moved to drive his blade into Stiles' chest when the wolf brought his hands forward and caught the stick a couple of inches from him. Garrett grit his teeth as he tried to put his weight behind his push in order to move passed Stiles' iron grip and pierce him. But Stiles' strength and grip kept it from getting closer. Stiles then eyed the tip of the blade and his nose stifled. The blade was coated with something. There was a scent on the blade, a familiar scent. Stiles quickly placed it as wolfsbane though it wasn't normal wolfsbane. The smell was slightly different but it was one that he knew. He could still smell it in some of his dreams, no nightmares, of his time in the Argent's care. He then growled as he moved and snapped the end of Garrett's lacrosse stick off.

Liam was awestruck. When Stiles and Garrett started fighting, he couldn't pull his gaze away. Garrett, who Liam had always seen smiling and have a bit of a laugh in his tone, couldn't look more different. There was no brightness in his eyes, now they were dark with his intent and drive to kill the person in front of him. And that person, Liam was awed by him. Liam knew that being a werewolf meant that he was now stronger, had enhanced senses, and could heal. However, seeing Stiles fight against Garrett showed him what that really meant for him now. Stiles was avoiding and pushing through Garrett's attacks with great speed and agility. Liam sighed contently as he saw Stiles go on and break Garrett's weapon.

Garrett faltered back a bit before he looked up at the end of his broken stick in shock. Stiles took the blade end he was holding and tossed it to the side as he kept his hard glare on the assassin. Garrett huffed before he angrily tried to swing his broken stick at Stiles but he quickly brought his hand up to catch it before it could hit the side of his head. Garrett gripped his stick with both his hands as he tried to yank it free but Stiles' grip held. He then let a small growl loose before he struck his freed palm at Garrett's chest and made him fall back against a car door. Stiles then dropped the stick and it clanged against the asphalt before he kicked it away, underneath another car. Now Garrett was without a weapon, sitting on the ground as he leant against a car and stared up at Stiles who was looking down at him with a predatorial leer. He then turned his head to where he could make out the sight of the flashing siren lights of his father's police van. He then looked over at Garrett who was gritting his teeth in a mix of fear and frustration.

"Face it Garrett, you lost. And since I'm a good guy, I'm going to give you a choice," he lightly growled at him. "Either give up and turn yourself in quietly, or, keep going and then I'll turn in what's left of you. Personally, I don't care what you choose to do. Either way, I'm going to see you two pay for killing Demarco and Carrie and trying to kill my friend and Brett. All so you and Violet could fill your damn bank account." For extra measure, the blue of his eyes flashed brighter and he noticeably began to rub his clawed fingers.

Garrett grunted and grit his teeth as he picked himself up but kept against the parked car. He knew he didn't stand a chance of beating Stiles now, not when he lost his weapon. He had to escape but if he ran then Stiles would easily catch him. He knew Stiles wasn't bluffing about breaking him. This guy's past with the Argents and their hunters was why he wanted to be discreet and careful around here. But now their covers were blown and Violet was already caught. But Garrett refused to let himself or Violet rot away in prison or in some sick bed.

"Garrett," Liam called out. He tried to step closer but Stiles held his hand to tell him to not get closer. Liam stopped walking but kept his soft gaze up. "Just stop, okay. Stiles is right. It's over."

Garrett looked over at Liam, pleading to him, as a friend would. He narrowed his eyes at the younger beta and looked down to see that the broken off blade was on the ground and not too far away. He quickly brought his gaze back up to Stiles and smirked at him. "Over? Are you kidding me? Those last two we brought down weren't any big prize. Together they were just worth 500K. Hardly worth it. I should've just gone on and uncorked Lydia at the party instead of her wine." Garrett's smirk went sinister as he looked over and met Stiles' eyes. "After all, that bitch is worth 15 million, and I hear she's always been easy, well, except for maybe you," he said as he goaded him to fall for his trap. "Is that why you settled for that dimwit, what's her name…Malia?"

Stiles' breathing quickened before he just saw red. Insulting his friend and girlfriend like that, in front of him and in complete amusement…Stiles lost it. He then roared and pounced for him. He sent a hard punch for him but Garrett ducked to the side and Stiles had only hit the door, whose hit made a large dent and shattered the door's window. Garrett rolled off to the side and picked up his poisoned blade.

Stiles straightened up as Garrett held it, pointed in his direction. "That won't stop me."

Garrett still had a smirk on him. "No...not you."

Before Stiles could work out what he said, Garrett spun around and flung the blade off and it found itself in Liam.

"Liam!" Stiles cried as he ran for the younger beta as he fell down onto his back.

Stiles bent down as Liam was panting fearfully as he looked wide eyed at the blade stuck in his front.

"Am I bleeding? Am I dying?" Liam frantically cried out. "Oh god, get it out!"

Stiles held his hands to stop Liam from panicking as he looked at it. He quickly noticed that he didn't smell any blood. "Liam, stop moving." He then went to yank the blade out and saw that there was no wound. "It's okay. Liam, you're alright. You didn't get stabbed. It got stuck in your pad," he panted out in relief.

Liam pulled up his jersey and saw that there was a wide indent on his frontal pads where the blade had gotten stuck in. "I'm okay?" Liam screeched.

"Yeah, you're fine," Stiles sighed lightly to him.

There was then the sound of tires squeaking and Stiles looked back to notice that a car was burning rubber as it started speeding out of the parking lot not too far from them.

"Damn it," he lowly growled. He got to his feet and reached his hand down to Liam.

"What do we do now?" Liam asked him as he took his hand and got pulled back to his feet.

Stiles didn't look at him. He just stared off in the direction that Garrett drove off with a hard look on him. Neither of them saw or sensed that there were other sets of eyes locked in on them from across the lot.

* * *

When Noah Stilinski got Derek's call, he didn't waste a moment. He drove as fast as humanely possible to the school and quickly made his way to the locker room where he had heard Scott would be waiting. He was there, standing watch over a young girl, tied up.

He glared at her. "Is she the one?"

Scott looked over at him with narrowed eyes and nodded. "Yeah. She's the one that uses the thermal cut wire." He then reached over and picked it up for him to see. "She and Garrett were working together."

"Are you alright?"

Scott nodded. "I'm okay. Derek went and took the guy she tried to kill out of here."

"And what happened with Garrett?"

"Last I saw him was on the field. Stiles, he went after him," he muttered in a small tone.

"Is he okay?" Noah asked him quickly.

But Scott didn't answer as they both heard, "Are you okay?" from behind them. They turned and saw that it was Scott's father.

"Dad?"

"I heard the dispatch call and rushed right over," he told him. He then looked over at the Sheriff and then to the girl. "What happened here?"

"Violet, she's a killer." Scott muttered to him. "She tried to kill me during the game break."

His dad's eyes nearly popped out. "What?"

Scott looked over at the Sheriff and the man nodded.

"McCall, can we talk?"

Scott moved over to the side so that Stiles' dad could talk to his. He stepped out into the hallway as he watched the two men engage in some hushed whispering. Scott listened in a bit and saw that the Sheriff was telling his dad that he was sure Violet and his boyfriend were connected to the other murders in town. His father then asked how the Sheriff knew that, Scott tuned out when he saw Liam was moving over for him.

"Liam," he called to him. As Liam got to him, he noticed how that the boy was sweating and had a heavy scent of anxiety coming off of him. "What happened?"

"Garrett...he uh, he got away." Liam told him uncomfortably. "He left this behind though." Liam then held up the broken part of Garrett's lacrosse stick that had the blade.

Scott's eyes widened at the sight. "You found him?" He then noticed the tear in Liam's jersey. "Are you okay?" he asked quickly.

"Yeah," Liam told him. "Yeah, I'm fine, I guess. Stiles, he saved me."

"Is he okay?" Scott asked.

"Yeah, he's okay too." Liam stared at him for a second before his expression fell. "Garrett got away though. Stiles told me to find you and make sure this gets to his dad." He then held up Garrett's broken off blade.

Scott stared at it for a second before looking back up at him. "Where is Stiles?"

* * *

Stiles and Liam had been moving out into the parking lot when they spotted Derek moving through the shadows, holding Brett in his arms. Stiles gave Liam the blade and told him to get it back to Scott and his father while he took Derek to his jeep so they could head to the animal clinic. Stiles quickly drove them to the front of the building where Deaton was already waiting by the door as they had called him in route. They carried Brett inside the clinic and placed him on the table. Brett was convulsing rather violently and yellow foam was leaking out through his mouth.

"What the hell is wrong with him?" Stiles said as he tried to keep Brett from falling off. "I've never seen wolfsbane make werewolves like this." When Derek had been shot with wolfsbane bullets, he had been lacking in energy. Same with him and Scott when they had been poisoned. Brett seemed like he couldn't stop moving.

"The form of wolfsbane he was hit with is extremely rare. Its effects are more combustive in werewolves," Deaton explained as he got some tools off one of the shelves. "We won't be able to burn this species out of him. I need to make an incision but both of you need to hold him still."

Stiles leaned on Brett to try and keep him from moving. Stiles put his strength down into his hold and Brett was somewhat held. From Stiles' end at least. Brett was still moving more freely from the side that Derek was trying to restrain.

And Stiles noticed. "Hey Derek, how about putting a little more effort, huh?" he sarcastically spat at him. "You know, put in some of that good old-fashioned werewolf strength?"

"Yeah, well I'm not the only one here with werewolf strength!" he spat back at him.

Deaton held the scalpel over him but couldn't move in. "He's just moving too much. If you can't keep him still then the incision could kill him," he warned. To add urgency to his warning, Brett then started to cough and now spit up the wolfsbane foam coating his mouth.

Derek grit his teeth and tried to press more of his body weight on Brett but he scratched him with his exposed claw and made him hiss and fall back. With his right hand free he surprised and pushed at Stiles, overwhelming him enough to fall off him and to the floor. Deaton hopped back in surprise as Brett climbed off the table and started to sway about, trying to stay on his feet. His eyes then focused on the door and he started to move for it.

"Brett, stop!" Stiles cried as he ran forward and hooked his arms around his torso to keep him from leaving.

Brett tried to pull himself away, stepping for the exit but Stiles was pulling as hard as he could to move him back to the table. Brett then started wiggling around, pushing at Stiles' hands to try and get free, but Stiles kept his grip tight. By the doorway, Peter started to run in and struck at Brett across the face. Brett's body then went limp in Stiles' arms and he gently helped lay him down with his back on the floor. Derek was heaving a little deeply as he had his hand over the scratch that Brett gave him but his eyes were wide and focused on his uncle. His eyes were burning blue as he was staring down at his closed fist. He noticed that Derek was staring at him and blinked his eyes back to normal.

"Well, I might be older but I still have a fair bit of werewolf strength left."

"Yeah, maybe more than a little," Derek gasped.

Peter smirked at him but it fell when he noticed the scratch on Derek's arm. It was still there and then, after a moment, slowly began to heal itself. Derek then quickly moved to keep it from sight.

Stiles was kneeling over Brett and his eyes widened. "Uh, Doc, he's not breathing."

Deaton then bent down himself and began to make his incision. After he made it, a big puff of yellow colored smoke began to pour out of him. Stiles shook his head. "Uh, well, is that it? Is he okay?"

"I think he'll be fine. But, he'll definitely be out for a while."

Stiles sighed. "Good." At least he was able to make up for Garrett slipping away from him earlier. Stiles saw the pained look on Brett's face and moved his hand over to touch his shoulder, prepared to pull some of the pain away. But before he could even graze him, his hand just stiffened up and Stiles felt his throat begin to tighten. A flash of him smirking flashed into his mind and he pulled his hand back. Stiles then closed his eyes and was now taking some deep breaths.

Deaton narrowed his eyes at him. "Stiles, are you alright?"

Stiles let out a big puff of air and cleared his throat. "Yeah," he cracked out. "I'm fine, just," Stiles then took another whiff of air and his eyes narrowed as he breathed in the strong smell of wolfsbane from Brett's incision. "Wait, this smell. Yeah, I know it. It's a lot like the poison that Gerard used on me after he kidnapped me from the lacrosse finals."

Deaton nodded as he looked down at the unconscious wolf's wound. "Yes, Gerard's werewolf power sapping cocktail. This species of wolfsbane is a key ingredient. Though Gerard mixed it with other toxins and chemicals to drag out its more fatal effects. Brett seems to have been dosed with its far more potent form."

Stiles then heard something coming from Brett. He was mumbling. "Guys, do you hear that?" he asked them. "He's saying something." Brett was still out and seemed to just be mumbling in his sleep. "Sounds like a chant."

Deaton moved to lean in closer and was barely able to make out what Brett was saying. The words that Brett was repeating were Sun. Moon. Truth. He then moved to sit back. "Three things cannot long be hidden. The sun, the moon and the truth." He then looked over at Derek. "It's Buddhist."

Derek looked over at Peter and his eyes widened. "Satomi."

That made Stiles' eyes widen. He knew that name all too well. "Satomi? The werewolf that was at Oak Creek with Kira's mom?"

Deaton nodded. "Yes." He then looked down at the sleep talking wolf on the floor. "It seems that Brett here might just belong to her pack."

"Wait," Stiles said straightening himself up a bit. "Are you saying-"

Derek sighed. "Yeah. She's an Alpha."

* * *

The Coach was shooing the lacrosse team away as many wanted to go and get their things from the locker room but they couldn't enter as it was now a crime scene.

"I'm sorry but you can all get your gear tomorrow," he told them. "If anyone sees Garrett then you are to notify police immediately. Then tell him that he's off the damn team. Got it?" The team nodded their heads. He then looked over and noticed that someone was missing. "And has anyone seen Stilinski?"

The players all shook their heads at that one and mumbled "No coach."

"Crap." Coach shook his head. "Well, at least he waited until after the game was called off to disappear this time." His face then hardened at them. "Now move out. Let the police do their jobs!" he said to them before they all started to head on out.

Liam was standing off to the side, his gear all taken off, and he was watching as Scott was talking to his father.

"Are you sure that you're feeling okay? If there is any part of you that is feeling sore than you should have the EMT's take a look," Rafael said to Scott in concern.

But Scott shook his head. "Really dad, I told you, I'm okay. See?" he said lifting his neck out so that his father could have a better look.

Rafael saw that there wasn't even any swelling. He then sighed. "I should've been here. I know that I promised that I would be at your games."

"Well, this was only a pre-season scrimmage."

But his dad just shook his head. "No, I promised your mom I would be around more so she could pick up more double shifts at the hospital."

Scott could see that his dad was genuinely sad about not being there tonight for him. He gave his father a soft look. "You're here now."

Just then, Violet was being escorted out of the locker room area, in handcuffs, by Deputy Parrish and the Sheriff. Violet turned around and noticed the nametag on him. The one that read Parrish. She recognized it.

"Jordan Parrish?" she asked him.

But the deputy just looked at her with a hard expression on his face. "Deputy Parrish," he told her as he kept moving her forward, passed Scott and his father.

Rafael shook his head. He remembered what Braeden had told him earlier. That his son and his friends were all in danger. "Scott, do you have any idea why Violet would just attack you like that?"

Scott stared at him for a second before he shook his head. "No. I can't think of anything."

He knew that his son was lying to him. Evidenced more when he looked over at the Sheriff who was making his way over to them. Rafael then noticed the evidence baggie in Noah's hand. "Sheriff, what is that? Is that the weapon?"

"Yeah. It's a thermal cut wire."

"Parrish, hold up," Rafael called out to the deputy.

At that, the two of them then moved over to catch up to Parrish and Violet as Scott stayed behind. When he was alone, Liam made his way over to him. Scott then noticed that there was someone else that he hadn't seen in a while.

"Where's Kira?" he asked him.

"She took off. Stiles sent her a copy of the part of the Deadpool that Lydia cracked."

Scott's eyes widened. "Her mom's on it," he realized.

"Everyone's on it," Liam told him. "You, Stiles, Kira, Lydia."

Scott shook his head. "Not you."

"Not yet. There's still another third, right?" he asked nervously.

Scott then moved to listen in on his father and the others and Liam turned to try and do the same.

"A thermal cut wire. Very unusual weapon Violet," Rafael said to her. "We have something very similar on file, used in over a dozen murders."

"Including Demarco Montana," Noah threw in. "Killed last weekend outside the lake house that you happened to be at that night."

But Violet calmly shook her head and narrowed her eyes. "I don't know what you're all talking about. I just go to school here."

Rafael narrowed his own eyes back at her, in interrogation. "Maybe we should call your parents," he said, not skipping a beat. "Oh that's right, you don't have any parents. That's why they call you The Orphans."

"Which means that you can't go to school here, seeing as you and your boyfriend aren't minors, right?" Noah put in. "That means you aren't as safe as you think. Especially since Scott says that you had just tried to kill him with this," he said holding the thermal cut wire. "And I'm betting that we'll find traces of Demarco's DNA as well as some from the others that were killed by this weapon. You should make things easier on yourself and your boyfriend and tell us where he is."

Violet just shrugged. "Sorry, but I can't tell you anything when I don't understand the first thing about is going on."

Noah nodded his head at her. "That so? Not even this?" He then pulled out another plastic baggie from his coat pocket that had Garrett's blade in it. "This was found in your boyfriend's lacrosse stick. I'm sure that forensics will be able to quickly match it to the wounds found in Carrie Hudson's body."

Violet's face didn't break in its calm. "That's all news to me. Seriously, you're grasping at straws."

Noah nodded at that. He then opened the bag and took a sniff inside. "There's a curious smell. Looks like it's laced with something. Hmm, kinda smells like this." He then pulled out a small vial that had a bit of yellow liquid inside. "Scott pulled it from your pocket while you were knocked out. So, still don't understand what's going on?" Violet's eyes narrowed a bit but she kept her calm game face on and Noah looked over at Parrish. "Take her to the station."

"Yes sir," he said before he yanked on her arm and pulled her away.

Noah and Rafael were then left there alone as they watched the girl being hauled off.

McCall eyed the baggie with the blade. "How exactly did you get that?"

"Oh, a reliable source of mine."

"Well, did this source happen to share what happened to Garrett as they gave you his murder weapon? We've got to find him," Rafael said to him.

"Yeah, I know. We should have the roads out of town watched, and see if you could find and freeze their bank accounts. That should help make sure he doesn't get very far." He then gave him the blade and the vial of poison. "Take those with you to forensics."

He nodded. "Yeah, I can do all that. But, what are you going to do?"

Noah then looked over and saw that Scott and Liam were standing a little bit aways and seemed to both be listening and waiting. "I'm going to follow another lead. I'll be back at the station in a bit."

Noah then moved over for them "Boys," he said as he reached them. He then looked over at where Rafael was still standing and nodded off to him before he went and took the boys by the shoulders and led them away.

Rafael watched them as they headed off and narrowed his eyes. It didn't escape his notice that Stiles was missing and no one had seen him around the same time that Garrett had vanished. Also, it just occurred to him that there should've been some sign of Violet's attack on his son but he didn't even have a single mark on him. Not to mention that Scott was at the right place at the right time and the Sheriff had been heading over here prior to the call to find Garrett. But, he would think more on all of that later, after he finished dealing with the girl who attacked her son.

The Sheriff pulled Scott and Liam over to the corner of the hall.

"Thanks Sheriff for not saying that I gave you Garrett's weapon," Liam sighed. "The last thing I want is for my mom and stepdad to freak out about all this."

"Yeah, don't worry about it Liam," Noah muttered. "But, my son, he's okay?"

"He's fine," Scott quickly reassured him. "He and Derek went to take Brett to the animal clinic so that Deaton could heal him."

Noah let a breath that he didn't know he was holding out. "Good. And I'm happy he got to you in time Liam."

"Just in time," Liam mumbled. "If Stiles had only been a few seconds later…" Liam froze there.

"Liam," Scott started.

"We were wrong. Stiles was on the list and he's worth 10 million dollars. That means Malia and I could be on the last one too."

"You have to calm down," Scott hissed at him. Liam was starting to be a little too loud.

But the Sheriff's eyes widened. "10 Million?!" he nearly shouted. His tone made Scott and Liam jump and even made some heads of stragglers nearby turn.

"Sheriff," Scott said lightly, trying to calm his friend's dad down.

Noah seemed to remember where he was and quickly calmed himself down, well, as much as he could anyway, given the **situation.** He had known that Stiles was on the Deadpool, thanks to Malia, but she didn't tell him that his son was worth so much money. Enough to make him a strong target. "Do you know where Garrett could've gone?" he asked them.

Scott shook his head and Liam dropped his gaze. "No," Scott told him.

"Well, maybe there might be something they left behind that could help in finding him," he reasoned.

"Sheriff!" That made the three of them jump. Coach was stomping over to them, and he looked pissed. "You won't believe this. It looks like someone went and broke one of the door windows of my car! Not to mention that there's a giant size dent in the door like someone went and crashed into it! You got to find the little monsters that did this!"

Liam awkwardly moved to clear his throat and keep his eyes anywhere but on Coach at that.

Noah held his hand out to the man. "We'll look into it Coach. But, right now, I need you to give me the numbers for both Violet and Garrett's lockers. And some bolt cutters," he added in a harder tone.

Scott headed for Garrett's locker in the boy's locker room while the Sheriff and Coach were busy with his and Violet's lockers in the halls. Liam was keeping a lookout at the door as Scott got to it and pulled the lock open with his strength.

"I think someone's coming," Liam hissed over at him. "Hurry."

Scott took the lock out and then opened the door and began to look inside. They knew that Garrett didn't have anything in his locker save for the first part of the list if he didn't take it with him after school. If there was a chance that Garrett did have the final part of the Deadpool around school, it would be here. He spotted a duffel back at the bottom and crutched down to it and began to open it. Scott's eyes widened at what was inside.

"Find anything?" Liam called out to him.

Scott's eyes were glued to the rolls of money that the bag was filled with. Stacks of hundred-dollar bills stood out to him in the dim light. Scott swallowed and looked out. "No," he called out. "Nothing."

* * *

Liam was sitting at the foot of his bed, just staring off at his clenched hands as they were shaking slightly. This whole day was packed with so much drama, suspense and head spinning revelations that made it seem like it ran on forever but Liam couldn't find it in himself to just fall asleep. In this day alone, he learned that two of his good friends were professional killers and had tried to kill not only Scott, but Brett as well. Brett, his hated rival who turned out to be just like him. Or was it him that was now just like Brett? Then, there was the fact that his once friend had tried to stab him that night, twice. Liam jumped in surprise when he heard a soft tapping at his window. He settled back down when he saw that it was Stiles.

"What are you doing here?" he asked when he opened the window.

Stiles moved his legs inside so that he was sitting with his back still out the window. "I was about to go and hunt for Garrett but I decided to first come and check up on you."

"Why?"

"Well, for starters, you did have a knife thrown at you today by somebody who you thought was your friend at the beginning of the day."

"Can you find him?"

"I hope so. We can't just let him stay out there and risk him going after anyone else."

Liam then ducked his head. "I was totally useless tonight."

Stiles narrowed his eyes at him. "What are you talking about?"

"At the school, all I did was give you, Scott and Kira more to worry about. I should've listened and not been at the game. Because of me, you guys couldn't focus everything on Garrett and he almost killed Scott and Brett and he used me to get away. The whole time you were trying to stop him, I did nothing but watch. I just got in everyone's way. At the parking lot, I should've done something but instead, all I did was stand there, like a complete idiot," he muttered hatefully at himself.

"Liam, you are an idiot." Liam's eyes widened at that but Stiles just smiled at him. "What I mean is that you can't blame yourself for any of that. You only just became a werewolf a week ago. No one expects you to get a full grip on all of this and immediately jump in and fight against bad guys." Stiles' shoulders then slumped. "Besides, its all my fault that Garrett got away. I let myself lose it back there when he taunted me, which is exactly what he wanted. It's not your fault."

Liam nodded. "How's Brett doing?"

"Well, Deaton managed to get all the wolfsbane out of him but he's still kind of weak. He should get his full strength back in about a day."

"Uh…can I see him? Tomorrow, after school?"

"Yeah, just come by the animal clinic. Well, I better get going."

"Wait," Liam said as Stiles began to move back out the window. "I never got say thanks. For what you did, catching that knife going for my face. I mean, with how much of a hard time I've been giving you guys, I'm surprised you even did that."

Stiles' face softened at that. "You're part of the pack now Liam. That's what we do. We look out for each other."

"We're brothers now?" Liam quoted.

Stiles let a small chuckle loose. "Yeah, something like that. If any of us ever need help, all we have to do is call for it and then at least one of us always comes running."

"Well, I can call Scott but I never gave you my number."

Stiles let a small laugh loose. "Here." He reached into his pocket but his face fell after a moment. "Ha, I guess I forgot my phone when I left the school." He then shrugged. "Well, anyway, I wasn't just talking about our phones. Wolves have their own way of calling and signaling the others in the pack."

"Really, how?"

"Just howl. Howl and at least one of us should hear you." He then moved to lean back outside on the window sill.

"Just like that?" he asked in surprise.

"Yeah. There are times when being a werewolf is rough, but there are times when it can be really great. You'll see."

Liam moved to run his hand over the front of his face. "Yeah, right," he mumbled as he then removed his hand. He looked at the window to see that Stiles had already let go and was gone. Liam let a frustrated air out and moved to lay on his bed, looking up at the ceiling.

Stiles headed into his jeep and then shut the door with a sigh. He gave Liam's window one last look before he turned to look at his backseat, at the lacrosse gloves that were lying there. He took one of them and gave it a good whiff. Once he had the scent, he opened the window and then started his car up. Stiles was thankful that it seemed like he had gotten his sense of smell and tracking skills back to snuff. It looked like it had gotten back to normal after the full moon a few nights ago. He began driving around through town, through the mostly empty streets. It was the middle of the night so there wasn't much traffic. That was good, as it would help him in trying to track down his prey. After about two hours, he managed to pick up Garrett's scent. He sped the jeep a little until he came upon the factory district and then stopped the car. Parked a little up ahead was a car that he recognized as the one that Garrett had taken from the school lot. He stepped out of his jeep and slowly made his way over to it. He carefully stepped over to the driver's side window and saw that the car was empty. He moved to open the door and pulled his head inside and found that there was something on the floor. He quickly picked up the scent of gunpowder and saw that it was blinking. Stiles didn't spare another moment as he quickly made a break for it. He managed to get three steps away when the car exploded and Stiles found himself flung forward from the force of the explosion. He landed hard on the asphalt, coughing, but mostly okay. He then moved to pick himself up to stare at the burning car.

Stiles grit his teeth as the scratches on his forehead were starting to heal up. "Assassins," he mumbled as he tried to dust himself off.

Inside one of the nearby factories, a man was watching him through binoculars. He lowered them before he huffed and angrily threw the small detonator in his hands against the wall.

* * *

Melissa was looking in the blackened fridge as she was on the phone with the power company. "I know that I'm a month late." She froze as she heard them correct her on the other line. "Three months? Are you sure it's three months?" She sighed as she heard them verify it. "Okay, I understand. But, if you could just turn the power back on, even for a few hours, it would be really great. I have a refrigerator full of food that's going to go bad. Obviously I don't have the money right now to run out and replace 300 dollars worth of groceries," she tried to joke.

Scott was sitting in his room, listening to everything that his mother was saying. How she was trying to joke and bargain with the power company to give them some electricity. He could smell her concern and worry from there, which made him feel even more terrible that he happened to be sitting over a bag that was filled with thousands of dollars. He had taken it from Garrett's locker and hadn't told anyone. He didn't know why he did it or even why he lied to Liam about finding it. He needed to talk to someone, but the only person he felt might understand, wasn't calling him back.

* * *

Stiles walked on into the animal clinic to gaze at the werewolf still on the table. Deaton was checking his heart and Stiles noticed that Derek was standing off to the side.

"Has he woken up yet?" Stiles asked them.

Deaton sighed as he removed the stethoscope. "No, not yet."

Derek eyes narrowed at him. "What happened to you? You smell like ash and smoke."

Stiles gave him a look. "Yeah. I was out tracking Garrett all night. I finally found the car he used to get away from the school but it had been rigged with a bomb."

Deaton's face fell. "It seems these assassins don't play around."

A dark look started to come over Stiles' eyes. "I know. Can you imagine what would've happened if it was my dad or his deputies that found the car instead? I have to find that lunatic."

Just then, the clinic's phone rang and Deaton went over to his office to answer it.

Derek moved to stand up. "That may have to wait. What we should do is get in touch with Brett's pack. There's a chance that the last two wolves that were killed belong to the same pack so there's a chance that they all might be on the Deadpool."

"Satomi's pack?" Stiles had to admit, he would like to meet her.

Derek nodded. "I'm going to need help finding them. They like to meet in the woods but they're too big for me to comb by myself. I already called Scott but he said that he had things to handle today."

Stiles shook his head. "I'm sorry Derek but I have to get back out there and keep looking for Garrett." He then straightened up a bit. "But, maybe Malia could help you."

"Malia?"

"Yeah. I know she can. She knows the woods like the back of her own hand." He saw Derek look down, as if he was considering it. Malia was his younger cousin who he had just found out about a couple of weeks ago. More family that he learned he still had. "It might actually be a good bonding time for you two."

Derek brought his gaze back up. "Does she know?"

Stiles averted his eyes. "I…haven't told yet. To be fair, there hasn't been a good enough time. And, to be honest, I don't know if she should know."

"Why?" Derek said a little offensively. "Because of me?"

"Because of Peter."

Derek deflated. That was a good point. "Okay. I won't tell her."

"But I got ask, be patient with her. She's still a little new to all of this but once she gets going, she's great."

"Stiles," Deaton said as he stepped back in the room. "That was Lydia. She's been calling around for you."

Stiles sighed. "Yeah, I left my phone at the school when all this started and hadn't had a chance to go back for it yet."

"She asked for me to tell you to meet her at the station. She needs your help to talk to someone."

"Who?"

* * *

Mason and Liam were off in the woods together, taking a quick morning run before they had to head to school. The both of them were apparently too buzzed from last night's events to really get any sleep. The revelation about their two good friends was too heavy on their minds.

"It's not just that we were friends with them," Mason sighed out. "They were using us. For their cover." Mason then saw that Liam wasn't saying anything and was just silently running beside him. "I mean, professional killers were using us. How are you not freaking out about that?"

Liam finally sighed. "Oh trust me, I'm freaking out about a lot!" His breathing started to quicken and he found himself beginning to speed up.

"Liam, slow down!" Mason called out as he couldn't find himself able to keep up.

But Liam didn't slow down, he went faster. Ran. Ran to try and distance himself from all the thoughts that were plaguing him. There was just so much going on with him now, he didn't know where to keep his focus on first. The Deadpool, being a werewolf, Scott, Stiles, Kira, Malia, Lydia, Brett, Violet, Garrett. He suddenly stopped when he then remembered Mason. He turned and realized that he had left him behind. He was getting ready to run back to him when he felt something slam into him from behind. He was thrown off some distance away, aching everywhere. He managed to lift his head and saw that it minivan. The driver's door opened and Garrett stepped out of it and made his way to him.

"Hey Liam. Sorry to just drop in on you like this but I'm kind of having a bit of trouble," He then brought out a long blade like the one that had been on his lacrosse stick last night. "I was hoping you could help me out."

Liam stared back at the blade in Garrett's hand fearfully and tried to crawl back away from him.

"Leave me alone," he cried.

He found that he was too hurt to get to his feet so he just crawled as hard as he could. He could hear Garrett walking over to him, slowly, but Liam didn't turn to look. He got two more feet away before he felt a sharp pain in his side. He let out a pained scream as Garrett grabbed him by the legs and began to drag him away.

A few minutes later, Mason ended up jogging over to that spot but didn't see any sign of Liam anywhere. He looked around, unaware of a spot of his friend's blood right in front of his feet.

* * *

Malia was sitting in math class, looking over Lydia's notes, as the teacher was going over attendance.

"Has anyone seen Stiles, Lydia or Kira today?" the teacher asked the room. Her gaze then went over to Malia who had her eyes glued to her notebook. "Malia," she said getting her attention. "Any idea where your friends are today?"

"I could try catching a scent," she suggested.

The teacher gave her a small look before sighing. "Right. How about I just mark them down as absent?"

Malia then heard her name being called out. It was in a whisper. She looked around but no one in the room seemed to be looking her way. She then heard it again. She then realized that whoever was calling her wasn't there. They were outside and it was someone that knew that she could hear them. She then moved to grab her bag and started to leave.

"Malia?" the teacher said stopping her. "Do you need to be excused from class?"

She nodded. "Yeah." She then left the room without another word. She wandered the halls until she stopped when she picked up a scent. She turned around and found Derek Hale standing at the foot of the stairs behind her. "What are you doing here?"

"Brett's still out of it. I need to find his pack and warn them about the Deadpool. Scott, Stiles and the others are all busy trying to find Garrett or get the rest of the names. Stiles said that you could help me."

Malia sighed. "And how can I help?" First Lydia and now Derek? It seemed that Stiles thought she could help everyone lately.

"I know a little bit about this pack. They have a sort of secret meeting place in the woods. No one has spent more time in those woods than you." He then threw Malia Brett's jersey. "Breathe it in."

Malia shook her head. "Oh, I'm not too good at that yet."

"Stiles says you are."

"Stiles says a lot of things."

Derek tilted his head a bit. "You're not wrong there. He sometimes says too much, but he believes in you," he said softly. "If you need help then I can teach you." Malia moved to unfold the jersey and then started to breathe it in. "Focus on the different scents. Some are tied to identity. Others give off emotion. Just, take your time and sort through each one until you find the one you want to track."

Malia slowly sniffed it. Breathing in all the different scents until she opened her eyes. She found it.

* * *

Coach Finstock was sipping some medicine as Scott and Mason were standing at the doorway to his office. They were asking him if he had seen Liam.

The man coughed as he finished drinking from the bottle. "Sorry guys, Liam skipped my class. Maybe he's sick, like me," he mumbled before he went to take another sip.

Mason turned to look back at Scott. "Liam didn't look sick on our run."

Scott was checking his phone. "He's not getting back to any of my texts."

"Mine either," said Mason.

But before they could leave, Coach called them back. "Oh, and McCall, tell Stilinski that if his dad finds out who was the felon that smashed my car, he gets extra credit. I'll even erase his absence today."

"Uh, yeah. Sure Coach."

Mason narrowed his eyes in confusion. "Stiles is out today?"

"Yeah, he's not feeling well himself," Scott told him.

"He seemed well enough yesterday and last night," Mason put in.

"Right," Scott tried shrugged off quickly. "Look, don't worry about Liam. I'll find him. But text me if you see him."

Mason nodded slowly at him. "Yeah, alright." He then turned to head into the sea of students leaving their classrooms but he wasn't heading to his next class. Something about all of this didn't seem quite right and judging from everything that was happening lately, it could mean trouble. Trouble that involved his best friend.

As for Scott, he was starting to get worried. It didn't sound like Liam to just up and disappear like this. With everything going on, his mind was starting to get nervous scenarios playing for him. But before he could think more on them, he saw that he was getting a call. From Liam. He quickly answered it. "Liam?"

"Sounds like you already know the answer that, Scott."

Scott stiffened. It was Garrett. "Where is he?" he asked him.

"Come on, like I'm actually going to tell you that," Garrett said to him mockingly.

Scott moved to try and talk somewhere more private. "I'll give you the money," he told him.

"Yeah, you will. But that's not going to get you Liam back. You're going to have to put in more effort than that."

"What do you want?"

"I want the money and Violet, or, you never see Liam again. Come and meet with me, alone. That means without any of your friends, especially Stiles."

* * *

Stiles met with Lydia outside the Sheriff's station and they went in and spotted Parrish at his desk. He looked up as they entered the station and he flagged them over to him.

"Your dad should be back within the hour. You want to wait in his office?" he asked them.

"Actually, we wanted to speak to you," Stiles told him.

"Privately," Lydia mumbled softly but insistently.

Parrish then led them to the Sheriff's office and Lydia handed him the copy she had of the second part of the Deadpool. He looked down at the list of names with numbers attached to them.

"This a hitlist?" he asked.

"We call it a Deadpool," said Stiles. "Recognize any of the names?"

Parrish narrowed his eyes at a name in the middle. "Uh, is this your name?" he asked pointing to it.

Stiles nodded. "Yeah, that's me."

"Ah, well, I see why everyone calls you Stiles then. And a few of these other names, your dad had me run them through the system last night but we couldn't find any of them. What's this hitlist all about anyway? Why are you on here?"

"We'll get to that but first, there's something you need to see." Stiles then turned to look over at Lydia.

"There's one more name." Lydia then took the paper and flipped it, revealing Parrish's own name at the bottom.

That made him stand up. "Okay, that's kind of terrifying. What's the number?"

"That's how much your worth," Lydia told him softly.

He turned around to face them with an incredulous look on his face. "I'm worth five dollars?"

"Five million," Stiles explained.

Parrish's face widened. "I only make forty thousand a year. Maybe I should be killing myself," he mumbled. "Wait, then this ten up here by your name, does that mean you're worth ten million?" he asked Stiles. The boy slowly nodded as he kept his eyes at the paper. "Does the Sheriff know?"

"Yeah," Stiles sighed. "My dad knows."

But Parrish shook his head. "I don't get it. Why am I on this? Why are you on this? Or, any of these people?"

"Yeah, that is probably a discussion best saved for later. Right now, there is still one more third of the list that we need to crack."

"And we need the third cypher key to unlock it," Lydia told him. "But, we need help getting it."

"From who?" Parrish asked her.

"Meredith?"

"The girl from Eichen? The last time you saw her, you almost gave her a nervous breakdown."

"Almost," Lydia argued.

"Well after what almost happened, they're not going to let her out again," he told them.

Lydia sighed. "Then, we're going to have to go and see her."

"They're not going to let you see her."

"They will if you come with us," she said to him.

Stiles then rubbed his neck. "Actually, I can't go."

Lydia turned to him, surprised. "What?"

But Stiles kept his gaze on Parrish. "Please Parrish, we wouldn't ask if it wasn't important. Like really important. Life and Death important. Could you take Lydia to Eichen House see her?"

Parrish gave them a look for a moment before he deflated. "Alright. Let me just make a call to Eichen House so that they'll be expecting us."

"Thank you. You, you're the best," Stiles called out after him. "You know, he's really a real cool guy," he said as Parrish made it to his desk and picked up his phone. "I like him."

"Yeah, he is," Lydia mumbled as she stared at him for a moment. She then turned away to look back at Stiles. "What was that about you not going."

Stiles' face hardened a bit. "Garrett is still out there. I have to go back out and try and find him. Before he could hurt someone else."

"By yourself? What about Scott?"

"It's my fault Garrett got away. If he hurts somebody…that's on me."

Lydia nodded. "Okay. Just be careful."

"You too. Trust me, just the place gives me the creeps. The people there, even creepier."

"Oh what fun," she sarcastically huffed at him.

Stiles then headed out of the station and was walking over to his jeep.

"Stiles?"

Stiles stopped and turned around to find Mason standing there. "Mason? What are you doing here?"

"Uh, I actually was trying to look for you."

"Me?"

"Yeah, it's Liam. He was running with me this morning and I lost track of him. He's disappeared and I think something might've happened to him."

"Did you check around school?"

"Yeah, and Scott hasn't heard from him either."

"Did you tell him what happened?"

Mason nodded. "He said he would text me if he heard from him."

"So, then why come to me?"

Mason sighed and looked down a little uncomfortably. "Answer me something first. Did you know? About Violet and Garrett? Is that why you were asking about the keg? Because the guy who delivered it was killed?" Stiles just quietly stared at him and Mason took that as all the confirmation he needed. "I knew it was Violet who ordered it but I didn't say anything because I didn't want her or Garrett to get in trouble. I thought they were my friends. And, I can't help but think if I had said something to you yesterday, then maybe Liam wouldn't be missing right now."

Stiles paled a bit. "You think Garrett did something to Liam?"

Mason stiffened. "He's my best friend. If something happens to him…it'll be my fault."

But Stiles shook his head. "No. It's not your fault Mason." Stiles quietly thought that if it was anyone's fault, it was his. "Now, tell me, where did you last see him?"

* * *

Scott went over to where the school buses were all parked at the time that Garrett told him. He moved around and quickly spotted the guy waiting for him.

"You alone?" Garrett asked him without lifting his head.

"I'm alone, I didn't even tell any of my friends. Okay," Scott said as he moved for him and began talking quickly. "Now, what do you want? Want me to go to Stilinski? I could do that or I could talk to my father. He's an FBI agent."

Garrett smirked at him. "Do you really think I want to talk to someone with a badge? That I would go to a werewolf because I want help talking to someone?"

Scott glared at him. "Then what do you want me to do?"

"They're transferring Violet tonight. She'll be in a car and you're going to stop it and get her back for me."

Scott's eyes widened. "You want me to attack a car? That's your brilliant plan?"

Now Garrett rolled his eyes. "You're an Alpha. If you can't stop one little car then one little beta is going to die." Scott glared at him and Garrett reached behind his back and pulled out his blade. "I stabbed your boy with this a while ago. It's dipped in wolfsbane and once it reaches his heart, bad things happen, unless you do exactly what I say," he said as he held the blade close to his face to glimpse the wolfsbane it was laced with. "Poor Liam doesn't have much time. I would decide fast."

Scott sighed. It looked like he didn't have a choice. "Okay, fine."


	12. Orphaned part 2

Chapter 12: Orphaned part 2

Noah Stilinski came back to the station to find hear that he had just missed his son. Apparently he and Lydia had just been there and had met with Parrish in his office. He also saw that Parrish was missing too. Haigh informed him that he had left with Lydia to escort her somewhere but he didn't say where. He went and quickly made a call to Lydia and she told him that she and Parrish were heading to Eichen House to try and get Meredith's help in unlocking the final part of the Deadpool. She also told him that she and Stiles had been there to have a quick talk with Parrish to try to find out why he was on the second part of the Deadpool as Stiles was. That fact surprised him too. But, then he remembered something that Parrish had said to him once. It was when he had asked him why he had come to Beacon Hills and the guy told him that he had felt drawn here. Stiles and Scott had told him that the Nemeton would 'draw' things here and Parrish had arrived roughly two weeks after that night that he and the others had been trapped in that root cellar. He also saw that Parrish was worth 5 million dollars, half of what his son was worth. Whatever the story was behind Parrish, Noah knew that he was a good man. No more deserving of being a cash prize than his son and his friends were. He moved over his computer and pulled up the monitor for the holding cells. He saw Violet there, just sitting by the wall, as if she was just sitting in a waiting room instead of a prison cell. He gave the deputies in the station a small look before he narrowed his eyes and froze the picture. He then moved silently for the cells and made his way in. Violet was currently the only resident in them and rose her head up when she noticed him come in.

"Hey Sheriff," she said wearingly. "Rough night?"

Noah glared at her for a moment before he went and closed the door behind him and slowly moved until he was in front of her cell. "Alright Violet. For the moment, how about we just cut out the crap."

Violet narrowed her eyes at him. "Oh?" she said before she went and crossed her arms. "What could you possibly mean?"

"You know what I mean. You know, about my son. About Scott. About Lydia. About everyone, don't you?" That got Violet to smirk at him. "I thought so."

"You want something, don't you? That's the only reason you would try and drop the 'I'm just a cop doing my job' act."

"It's no act," Noah said sternly.

"But you still want something that only I could give without all this legal stuff getting in the way. Whatever could that be?"

The Sheriff glared harder at her. "The Benefactor."

Her eyebrows rose in surprise. "What about him?"

"I want to know who he is."

"Well I don't know and I don't care who he is. All I know is that he's a guy with money and willing to pay to have 'certain' people taken out."

"And that's all you give a damn about," Noah finished with an accusing tone. "No thought to who has to die and how many people you have to hurt in the process. As long as you get your money."

But his tone didn't bother Violet. She only rolled her eyes at him. "Why would I?"

"Because you just pissed the wrong kind people off. And I won't pretend to be an expert on any of them, but one thing I know for sure. The last thing you want is to have a seriously pissed off werewolf on your ass."

Violet smirked confidently at him. "Oh, and you would know all about that, wouldn't you? Besides, I wouldn't worry. You see, this is all a race. Me and Garrett are just two of the runners in the supernatural free for all. We might've tripped a bit but there's more where we came from. Those mutts don't have time to be concerned about us. Their hides are going to end up on someone's wall sooner or later. But who's going to be brought down next, that's the million dollar question. Or maybe ten million," she said in a laughing tone.

Before he knew it, Noah had charged forward and grabbed at Violet's throat. He squeezed it, choking her for a moment before he started to hear the doorknob to the room turning. He then went and pushed Violet away. Rafael walked into the room in time to see Violet land on the ground and the Sheriff breathing hard.

Rafael then went over and grabbed him by the shoulder and led him off to the side. "Are you out of your damn mind?" he asked him. "You're lucky that I decided to check out what was happening in here before re-starting the cells' cameras, which were suspiciously turned off."

Noah pulled himself away from him. "I had it under control."

"Did you now?" Rafael looked over at Violet who rubbed at her neck a bit before she just smiled at them and rested herself back against the wall. "I understand how this could be personal, but we have to be professional right now." Speaking of which, I was looking for you because I just got new orders. We're transporting her to Los Angeles now. I'm going to need to borrow some deputies."

The Sheriff straightened himself up and let out a calming breath. "I'll go get them ready now."

When the man left, Rafael turned to look back at Violet. "Sit tight. You're in for a long night." Rafael then left the room and moved to head to check on the status of the transport car when he saw his son standing in around the front entrance. "Scott, what are you doing here?"

"Uh, I just wanted to know how things are going with Violet."

Rafael's eyes rose a bit in surprise that Scott would come all the way here just to know about that but he sighed. "You don't have to worry about her anymore Scott. We're taking her now."

He went to begin to get the final things ready but Scott followed after him.

"Dad, are you sure that's a good idea. I mean, Garrett is still out there. Maybe someone else should do it." Scott was scared. If his dad was there then he would be dragged and pulled into the crossfire when the hit would go down.

Rafael finally stopped. "Look Scott, I appreciate the concern but after what happened with Katashi, losing Argent and to the evidence in the armored truck, I'm not letting this one get away on my watch. Don't worry, I'll have Beacon Hills finest with me on this."

Rafael then looked over his son's shoulder to where Violet was already being escorted out of the building by some deputies with the Sheriff tailing them. Scott turned to stare at her and Violet's stone hard expression went into a smirk as she was passing by them. Rafael noticed and signaled for the deputies to take her out faster. He then was called away by another deputy who had a clipboard in his hand and he excused himself leaving Scott standing there, watching after him with a deflated look about him. He then turned to go and meet back up with Garrett. But he was noticed by the Sheriff before he made it out.

"Scott?" the man said stopping him from walking out. He then waved him over and the boy walked over to him as they went over to a corner. "Is everything okay?"

He quickly nodded. "Yeah, everything's fine Sheriff."

But Noah narrowed his eyes. "Scott, it's me. By now I know when something's wrong. What is it?"

Scott wanted so much to tell him. Tell him everything about finding the money, Liam's kidnapping, the pending attack on the transport, but Garrett's threat rang through his ears like a deafening ping. Liam's life was at risk and if he did anything then he could lose any hope he had of finding him in time. But still, the Sheriff could tell that something was going on. He knew that the Stiles' dad wouldn't let him go unless he said something. "Uh, I just haven't heard from Stiles since last night," he thought of quickly. "He hasn't been answering any of my calls or texts."

But Noah's eyes narrowed. "You mean you don't know?"

Scott's face fell. "Know what?"

"Stiles, he's been out trying to track down Garrett all night."

"He has?"

"Yeah, Lydia told me a while ago. She and Stiles had stopped by to talk with Parrish before he went off to keep trying to find him. Apparently, Stiles managed to find the car Garrett used to get away but it had been rigged with an explosive."

"What? Is he okay?" Scott gasped out.

"Yeah, he is. I wanted to call him and talk to him myself but Lydia told me that Stiles didn't have his phone as he left it back at the school last night when he ran off. I just thought you had been out with him."

But Scott shook his head. "No, I wasn't. I didn't even know about all this." Scott couldn't help but think that it was funny how Stiles had been hunting for Garrett and the guy had come to meet with him a little while ago.

The Sheriff's face fell. "Then that would mean that he was looking for him all by himself."

Scott couldn't help but shake his head at Stiles' actions. "Why would he go and try to track him down all by himself?"

Noah deflated. He had a feeling about why his son was doing this. "Because he feels it's his fault. He must be blaming himself for Garrett getting away."

Scott blinked. "That wasn't Stiles' fault."

But Noah shook his head. "Telling him that won't make him stop feeling that he's responsible. Garrett got away on his watch and he feels that makes it his fault. I've seen it before. Hell, I've been through it before. Every cop feels that way with a criminal that gets away." He couldn't help but feel that his son shouldn't have to be feeling that way at all. Stiles was just a kid who shouldn't bearing that kind of responsibility on his shoulders. "He's carrying enough already. All of you are."

Scott could smell the Sheriff's sadness and anxiety. "Because we have to," he mumbled. "How long ago was Stiles here?"

"He was here this morning. I had just missed him. He must still be out there looking for him."

Now Scott was confused. Garrett had to let himself come out into the open to risk meeting with him. Surely Stiles would've picked up his trail a while ago if he had been out looking for all that time. Unless something else had happened or was going on. "Did Lydia say where Stiles was going to try and look for him?"

"No. I already asked and she said that he just left without telling her."

"Well, could you call me if he turns up?" Scott asked.

The Sheriff nodded. "Of course. Same with me, alright?"

"Yeah."

Scott then took off from the station with the Sheriff looking after him. Once Scott was out of the front door, Noah then turned to head for his office. He was unaware that he was being watched by Rafael, who had been watching their whole silent exchange, from a hidden corner. Rafael knew that Scott wouldn't just come to ask about someone like Violet without a good reason. Or a terrible one that involved him, his mother, the Sheriff and all of his odd friends. Something that seemed to make Stilinski just snap at Violet unexpectedly. Whatever it was, he couldn't take any chances with this one. He then went off to one of the other deputies.

"Could you please inform the Sheriff that that there won't be any need for him to take part of the transfer? I'll be in charge of supervising and overseeing the entire exchange."

* * *

Stiles found himself on the trail where Mason had told him that he had lost track of Liam. He found traces of Liam and Mason's scents at the start of the trail from their run and quickly walked it, letting his eyes take in the scenery to see if there was any clues for him. He suddenly stopped when he detected the smell of blood. He followed it until he found a spot of dried blood on the ground. Stiles sniffed around and quickly found Liam's scent was mixed in with Garrett's. There was also a faint smell of wolfsbane drifting through the air. And…fear. The scent was quite strong. He went to where it seemed the strongest and found that there were dragging tracks. There were also some lines of blood leading away from them to, what he could make out, fresh car tire tracks. Stiles bent down to one of the blood spots and reached down to touch it to get a better scent. When Stiles' fingers made contact, he stiffened. His eyes suddenly saw Liam fly into the air as he was hit by a speeding car. He then saw Liam hurt and bleeding as he was trying to crawl away but he was then stabbed by a poisoned blade and then dragged away, by Garrett. The images then faded and Stiles found himself kneeling on the ground. He let out a deep breath as his racing heart was starting to settle a bit.

"Liam," Stiles mumbled to himself as he went to pick himself up. Stiles rubbed at his nose in aggravation. The expression he had seen on Liam's face was pure terror. He looked like he'd never been so scared. It was like Stiles had told the kid only last night, he'd only been involved in all of this for one week. He wasn't used to dealing with people that literally wanted him dead. He held the fingers that touched Liam's blood to his nose and gave it a good sniff. "Not too long ago. He can't have been taken too far."

Stiles then broke into a run as he tried track Liam down. Garrett took Liam alive which means that he needs him. If he had to guess, to use as some kind of leverage. Mason had told him that he had already told Scott about Liam vanishing on him. Scott must know that something was wrong and if he had to guess, was probably already being threatened with Liam's life. But, if he could find Liam, he would take the only thing that Garrett had to protect him from them.

* * *

Derek and Malia were in a deep part of the woods where Derek was sure was close to where they could find Satomi's pack.

"The leader of the pack is an Alpha named Satomi. She's one of the oldest werewolves alive. She's learned a lot."

Malia saw that there was something in those last few words. "What does that mean?"

"She's a bitten werewolf. She did something a long time ago that changed her. A quote, a mantra, helps her with control." But Malia just stopped walking and started to look around, on alert. "What's wrong?"

Malia's nostrils flared. "Gunpowder."

She then looked down and Derek bent down and picked up a bullet casing. It was fresh. "If Brett's pack is out here, I don't think they're meeting. They're hiding."

* * *

"Help me! Somebody help me! Please!"

Liam was moving around the small space, knee high in water, trying to find some way to climb out. After Garrett had stabbed him, he had thrown him into his car and then drove him away. Liam found he was barely able to move and put up little fight against him when Garrett finally stopped the car in some part of the preserve and pulled him out. Garrett went and threw Liam into an old well and taunted him. Told him that Liam could scream all he wanted but no one could hear him this far in the woods. He then amusingly warned him to not panic or his heart rate would increase which would pump the poison through his system faster. Liam wasn't following that advice. He was panicking and very much so. And he was in pain. He looked down at where Garrett had stabbed him and saw that the wound wasn't healing in the slightest bit. When Garrett said he poisoned him, he wasn't joking. Liam didn't know what to do. He was bleeding, in some cold well, waiting to slowly die. He tried calling out for help a couple of times but it had amounted to nothing. He lost track how long he had been there. From what he could make out from the top, the sun was starting to go down. Surely, one of the others must've noticed he was missing and gone to look for him. Mason, he knew his friend would've panicked, he would've gone and started asking around for him. Liam just hoped that Scott or the others stumbled on it.

* * *

Lydia found herself in front of Eichen House. As soon as she set eyes on the place, a hard chill ran down her spine. She could feel goosebumps starting to crawl up her arms as Parrish led the way inside the dismal looking reception area. Parrish went to the orderly at the front desk and requested for them to see Meredith and the guy nodded as he went to lead them to her room. They made it to the wing and were about to head to the room.

"What the hell are you doing?" They all looked over and saw the orderly Brunski walking for them and he looked pissed. "We're not running a bed and breakfast here," he spat at his colleague. "You don't just let in anyone who has a badge."

"We need to talk to Meredith Walker," Parrish said to him calmly. "It involves a murder investigation."

"Well, you can talk to her but this one," he said nodding his head to Lydia who rolled her eyes at him. "She stays outside. She caused a lot of trouble with this one the last time the two of them were together."

"I understand that but Lydia is a crucial witness in an ongoing investigation. I wouldn't have brought her here if it wasn't absolutely…crucial," he said as he got a little stuck trying to find some way to excuse her coming along.

But Brunski just smirked at him. "Okay deputy, why don't you come back with a court order, and then I'll listen. And tell your boss to throw in his payment while you're at it. He might be the Sheriff but he still has to pay for letting that smartass son of his shack up here. That smarmy bastard of his racked up quite a tab when he pulled his Houdini act and made trouble with that psycho girlfriend of his and he's late on the bill. Guessing those government jobs don't pay you guys like they used to, huh?"

Lydia sighed. ' _Wow, if this guy ever found his way into a room with Stiles or Malia again, he wouldn't leave without something being broken_ ,' Lydia thought to herself, as a small part of her wished to see that happen.

But Parrish didn't break as he calmly stared back at the hard-faced orderly down. "Maybe not but they do help when you need a favor. Like how a month ago Canaan PD helped you get home after blowing a .1 on the breathalyzer."

That made Lydia smile. "Yeah. It would mean quite some embarrassment for the board if it got out that they have drunk orderlies watching over sensitive patients."

Brunski moved to let his hardened eyes land on her. "What's your name again sweetheart?"

"Lydia. Lydia Martin."

Brunski's eyes then softened. "Martin?"

"Yeah, why?" Lydia asked him not breaking her confident look.

He didn't say. He just stepped back and let his arm out in the direction of Meredith's room. "Alright, I'm not against a little quid pro quo. Please, make yourselves at home." He let his eyes stay on Lydia as he said that last bit before he went to leave them to it.

"I don't like him," Lydia mumbled as he disappeared around the corner from them.

"Yeah, I don't think anyone likes him," Parrish said as he went to open the door and enter Meredith's room.

On the bed, Meredith was sitting there with her typical far off expression. Lydia stepped in and stood next to Parrish as he closed the door behind them.

"He's right," Meredith finally spoke out. "No one does." She then turned her head to look at them. Or specifically at Lydia. "I know why you're here…and I can't tell you."

Lydia moved to sit across from Meredith while Parrish stood at the foot of her bed.

"Meredith, what do you mean you can't tell us?" Lydia asked her. "You mean the third key?"

Meredith nodded but kept her eyes at her hands that she had over her knees.

"Meredith, people's lives are at risk. I'm sure that you don't want to see anyone get hurt, right?" Parrish asked her gently. "I mean, isn't that why you tried to find us before?"

Meredith looked over at him. "I just wanted to help. That's what I want, I want to help."

"Great, so then help us," Lydia pressed in gently. "Give us the third cypher key."

Meredith shook her head. "I can't. Things…it's all changed. I can't."

"Why not?" asked Lydia. "What's changed?"

"I'm sorry," Meredith's voice cracked a bit. "He, he doesn't want me to."

"He?" asked Parrish. "Who Meredith?"

"He'll get mad if I tell you."

"Who doesn't want you to tell us the third cypher key?" Lydia asked.

She rose her gaze to look Lydia square in the eye. "The Benefactor."

"The Benefactor?" Parrish repeated before he looked over at Lydia. "Isn't that the guy who made the hitlist?" She nodded and he turned back to Meredith. "What is it? Why did he make this list? Why am I, why are we all on it?"

Meredith just shook her head as she looked away from him.

"You know who he is," Lydia mumbled more to herself than Meredith. But the girl kept her gaze away from her and Lydia huffed angrily as she threw herself back to her feet. "Who is he? What's his name?" Lydia asked her. Meredith shook her head again. Lydia was starting to grow frustrated. "What do you know about him?"

"I can't. I can't tell you."

But Lydia wasn't taking that for an answer. "Tell us. What do you know about him?"

Meredith was now shaking her head more ferociously and it was making Parrish feel nervous. "Lydia, maybe we should stop."

Lydia ignored him. "Meredith, a lot of people are going to die if you don't tell us."

"I don't, I don't know. I don't know." Meredith was freaking out.

Parrish held out a hand to calm her down. "Meredith," he tried.

But she kept shaking around repeating herself. "I don't know. I don't know. I don't know!" She finally screamed.

Her scream made Lydia wince as she went to sit back down and hold her ears until Meredith finally stopped and curled back into the bed, in a ball. Lydia removed her hands to find that they were smeared with blood. Parrish bent down to see that Lydia's ears were bleeding. He couldn't help but give Meredith a curious look.

* * *

Scott was given a small box by Garrett and he opened it to find that there was a tranquilizer gun inside. He told him that he was going to use that on the deputies and Scott's father to stop them. He knew that Scott wouldn't help him if he brought harm to those people, let alone his father.

"Suddenly you care about what happens to people?" Scott said pointedly.

"No. I don't give a damn about them," he then turned to give Scott a cocky grin. "But you do. So just do what I say and no one else has to die tonight."

But Scott shook his head. "This isn't going to work."

"All you have to do is stop the car. I'll handle the rest."

Scott remembered what the Sheriff told him. "He's not dead you know."

Garrett rolled his eyes. "Not yet but he will be if Violet isn't back with me soon."

"I don't mean Liam. I meant Stiles. He completely avoided your little trap."

"Trap?" he asked semi curiously.

"That car bomb you left for him."

Garrett turned back to face him with his eyes narrowed in confusion. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Before anything else could be said, the transport passed by them and Garrett began to start their car while Scott moved to cover himself in a hood. Garrett quickly pulled them out of the side of the road and went to follow after them. And while Scott was worried about what was about to happen, he couldn't help but realize that Garrett seemed genuinely surprised. As if he didn't know about any bomb. But if Garrett wasn't responsible, then who laid that trap?

* * *

Stiles was trekking into the woods, following the dim scent trail of Liam's blood. Since he had been taken in a car, the scent was being covered through layers of scents and it was taking quite a bit of time and effort to keep following it. Night had already fallen and the light from a half moon was shining down to dimly illuminate the woods but Stiles could see everything around him well enough. He was on one knee, sniffing around to try and keep following after Liam's blood when he stiffened. There was a new scent in the air. Gunpowder. And it was mixed in with chemicals. Stiles slowly stood up and let his eyes take in the area. There was thick brushes everywhere and a few giant, jagged rocks here and there. Any of these places could be used for cover. He then heard a click and saw that it was coming from his right. His instincts kicked in and he leapt away to see that there was a bolted arrow sticking in the ground where his foot had just been. He exhaled in relief but then there was a flash and he found himself covering his eyes. He opened them to see that the bolt had exploded and there was a small scorch mark in the earth where it had gotten stuck in. His eyes widened when his ears picked up the click again and he broke into a run. He heard another whoosh travel through the air and saw an arrow get stuck in the ground just behind him which then exploded a second later like before.

Stiles realized that someone was trying to kill him, using exploding arrows! He would be amazed if he wasn't so freaked out right now!

Nearby, there was a man who was pulling on switches of a large remote trigger device in his hand. There was a small screen in front of him with images of wireless cameras he had placed around. He then saw Stiles' image in one of his cameras and then went to flip the appropriate switch on his remote and one of his crossbow fired another bolt at the boy. He was running and leaping on ahead, as fast as he could and missed getting caught in the explosion where the bolt narrowly missed him. Even though the arrows were missing, the man was smiling however. His quarry was doing what he wanted it to.

* * *

"There's a stop sign half a mile ahead," Garrett told Scott as they were closing in on the transport's headlights.

Scott ripped his hood off angrily. "So I take out the tires, with my claws?" he asked to make sure he got the full brunt of Garrett's ridiculous plan. To just charge in and attack the car up front. Even Stiles at his craziest wouldn't make a plan so stupid.

The guy rolled his eyes. "Teeth, claws, heat vision, I don't care. Just stop them, now are you ready?"

Scott didn't have to answer because stopping the car wasn't necessary. It was already stopped, and turned over. The engine was smoking and Scott could already make out the smell of blood in the air. He then saw a person trying to crawl their way out of the wreck. He knew who it was.

"Stop! Stop the car!" he roared at Garrett. Garrett slammed on the break and Scott threw himself out and ran over to his father. "Dad!" he screamed as he moved to kneel next to him.

His father had a small cut on the side of his head but didn't seem too hurt. He blinked his eyes at him when Scott grabbed at him. "Scott?" he said out groggily.

"I'm here Dad," Scott said hurriedly. He then saw that there were three others in the car. He thought one of them was Stiles' father and reached in to see that the Sheriff wasn't there. The others were just deputies but he began helping to get them out when he noticed that there was no sign of Violet. "What happened?" he asked as he pulled one of the deputies out onto the pavement.

"I…I don't know. Something just hit us. Then, they out of nowhere," Rafael coughed.

"Who?" Scott gasped at him.

Over at the van, Garrett stepped out and brought out his poisoned blade. He stomped over to the back and pulled out another lacrosse stick and fastened his blade to the end of it and created a makeshift spear. He twirled it around once before he started to stomp over for them.

Rafael's eyes squinted as he could blurrily make out the shine from the blade in the dim moonlight. "Scott?"

Scott turned around in the middle of pulling another of the deputies out and saw Garrett was heading for them. "Violet, she's gone."

Garrett just glared at him as he turned the spear in his hands before he let it settle in the grip of his right hand. "Well then, look who just became worthless." He then pointed his spear in Scott's direction. "Well, maybe not. 20 million is worth plenty. And that beta of yours is decent too." Scott tensed and was ready to defend himself when Garrett pointed it towards his father. "Think long and hard about what you're going to do next." His left hand reached into his pocket to pull out a small throwing knife. "The verdict is still out on your father and the others tonight."

"Scott, run," Rafael mumbled as he weakly pulled at the ankles of his son's pants to get him to save himself.

Scott grit his teeth as Garrett savagely smirked at him. Garrett knew that he wouldn't do anything to him, not without risking his father and the other deputies he had pulled out of the car. He was still holding all the cards. But then Scott stiffened. He heard something begin to get closer. From the side of the road, stepped a Berserker. It lightly snarled at them as it moved to stare Garrett down.

Garrett wasn't intimidated though. "You want me?!" he spat at the creature. "Come on. Come and get me!" He quickly placed the throwing knife into his sleeve of his wrist before he began to twirl and swing his spear over his head in expert fashion. Scott had to admit, Garrett was no amateur. The Berserker made no moves to do anything. It just stared him down in silence and Garrett seemed to swell with confidence. "Yeah, that's right!" he gasped out. "You're not so big. You're not so big!"

But the next thing any of them knew, Garrett was being lifted into the air, through a spike sticking out from his chest. Rafael could barely make out something behind the young man before the strain of everything finally made him pass out. Scott saw the second Berserker as it breathed on Garrett before it threw his now dead body to the ground. Scott moved to intercept him but he was struck from behind by the other one and landed right next to Garrett's body. Scott felt a piercing pain at his side before everything blacked out.

* * *

"Well when you get this message please call me back. It's urgent. And don't worry about Brett, he's in good hands."

Noah then hung up the phone after he finished leaving his message and let a heated breath out as he rubbed at his eyes. He had just left a message at Brett's home address. He got it by pulling up Brett's file from his records at Devonford Prep but no one seemed to be home so he left that message to let them know that Brett was safe. He felt he had to do something as he had been left behind due to McCall's order. When he was given the message he had angrily stomped off for McCall and managed to catch him before the transport could leave. McCall told him that he was being excluded because, after what he saw in the cells, he felt that Noah was letting this get too personal to do his job. That had made the Sheriff nearly laugh that McCall of all people would talk and lecture him about letting things get personal. He didn't know why but he felt that the reason he left him behind was more personal than professional.

His phone then started ringing and he looked to see it was an unknown number. "Hello?"

"Sheriff," he heard on the other line.

Noah tensed. He knew this voice. He looked around to see if it was safe and he lowered his tone. "Argent, do you not realize where I am right now," he muttered in a low tone.

"Yes, which is why I'm calling you. Something's happened."

He straightened himself up. "What?"

Before he knew it, the Sheriff was leading two police cruisers and an ambulance through the road where they stopped in front of the turned over transport. Lying on the road were McCall and the three deputies he had taken with him. They were lined up perfectly as they had all been pulled from the wreckage.

One of the deputies moved to check their pulses. "They're all still breathing sir. They're just unconscious."

Noah nodded. "Alright, let's get them to the hospital."

* * *

Scott was blinking as he started to make out a bright light hovering over him. It was from a lamp and soon, he made out Deaton's face looking down at him.

"I was actually hoping you would be out for a few more minutes."

Scott blinked at him before he looked down to see that there was a giant bone spike stuck in his chest.

"Scott." He then looked over and saw that it was Argent. "This is going to hurt." He then moved to wrap his hand around the spike and then moved to pull it out of him.

Scott screamed as he felt the pain of the thing being ripped out of him. When it was out, Scott quickly moved to get to his feet and Argent helped him balance himself as he asked if he was okay. "Where's my dad?"

Deaton came over with a wipe coated in alcohol and disinfectant and placed it over his wound. "He's at the hospital. Chris had found you and called the Sheriff so that he could pick him and the deputies up. He says that your father and the others are all doing fine. Here, hold this." He then let Scott hold the wipe while he went to get some bandages.

"It was Kate," he breathed. "Her Berserkers."

Argent nodded. "Yeah, we know. But they move fast and don't leave much in the way of tracks."

"I think she took Violet. I have to find her. She might know where Liam is."

Deaton then went to pick up the spike. "Then as much this hurt it could probably also help. Can you get a scent?"

Scott looked down at the Berserker's spike that was laced with his blood. He took it and began to try and sift his way to find a scent.

* * *

Derek and Malia spent hours trying to find any sign of the pack but had no luck. They finally just regrouped at Derek's car and Malia could see that Derek was frustrated.

"I'm sorry," she told him.

But Derek shook his head. "There's nothing to be sorry about. If they don't want to be found then we're not going to find them. Some werewolves have an ability, a kind of mastery over their body where they can hide their scent."

"They can hide from other werewolves?" Malia asked as she took that fact in.

Derek nodded. "And anyone trying to find them."

"So that's why no one knew about Brett?"

"Same as Demarco."

Malia tapped her finger against the door before she narrowed her eyes. "Maybe we should trying something different." She then turned to face him. "Maybe we should try thinking like Stiles."

Derek rose his eyes in surprise. "Stiles? Think like a hyperactive spaz?" Derek saw Malia give him an exasperated look at that which he couldn't help but think was a lot like Cora. At the thought of his younger sister, his mind went to her child, by Stiles. The very one that was now dating Malia. "What do you see in him anyway?" What was it about him that drew in his sister and his cousin?

Malia's eyes narrowed. "Why do you care?"

"I don't."

That was a lie. He did care, a lot. Malia was his cousin, his family. Derek just stared at her. He couldn't help but pick out some things that reminded him of not only Cora but Laura and his mother as well. He couldn't help but wonder how it would've been to have had Malia in all of their lives from the beginning. Course, that meant having Peter there as her father. Despite everything that he had supposedly done for everyone when he came back, Derek knew that Peter couldn't be trusted. He remembered all too well the way that he tried to play him and that he was the one that killed Laura for her power. He had never forgotten or forgiven Peter for any of that.

Malia shook her head. "Why are you staring at me like that?"

Derek blinked as he had been caught and snapped out of his thoughts. "Nothing…you just kind of remind me of my little sister," he explained away softly.

"Oh," she said settling a bit. "Cora, that's her name isn't it? The others told me about her."

"Yeah…she's actually about to have a baby."

"Your sister has a mate?"

Derek's jaw stiffened a bit. "Not exactly. Would you say that Stiles is yours?"

It was Malia's turn to stiffen her jaw. "I don't know. Maybe what you really should've asked is what he sees in me," she said a little downtrodden.

Derek remembered the way that Stiles spoke about Malia to him back at the clinic. "I think he sees quite a lot, surprisingly."

"Well, maybe you don't see enough. If you did then you would know that thinking like Stiles is like thinking as a detective. If he can't find them as werewolves, then he would find them as Buddhists. Instead of asking where would werewolves hide, he would ask-"

"Where would Buddhists hide?" Derek finished. He let himself try to think until his eyes fell on the car's compass. "When Buddha sat under the Bodhi tree, he looked to the east for enlightenment."

"Is there some kind of east point in Beacon Hills?" Malia quickly asked.

There was. Derek had been there before. "Yeah…a lookout point." He then moved to put the car in drive. "Oh, and by the way, I always see enough." He then drove them off to for the east point as quickly as possible. When they got there, they ran out of the car but Malia froze and a stricken look came over her face. "Malia?"

"You don't smell that?" she gasped.

Derek didn't smell anything. That was the real reason he wanted someone with him for the search. Because it felt like his powers were getting fainter. But judging from Malia, the scent was strong. "Wait here." He then moved in the direction that Malia had looked at. He slowly walked into the trees but he froze at what he found. In a clearing, he found that there were half a dozen bodies of werewolves, all of them with pale and pained looks stuck on their faces.

Malia let her eyes wander at each of the dead werewolves, all pale and some had black streaks decorating their bodies. "What happened to them?"

"Poison," Derek said as he studied one of the bodies. "Stronger than wolfsbane from the look of it."

Malia then turned her head to the side. "I hear something."

"What?" Derek asked.

Malia led the way and they saw another body not too far away. But, this body was moving. They could see a bloody hand reaching out for them and they ran over to find that it was Braeden. She was hurt, shot. Derek brought her into his arms just as he and Malia heard a howl sound through the air.

"Stiles," they both mumbled.

* * *

Stiles could see the light from the latest explosion to his left as he felt a small force push at him and make him start to wobble. He then heard another click and there was actually saw the next arrow fly through the air for him which made him quickly duck and avoid it that flew overhead and miss him. It flew and exploded where it landed in the dirt. Stiles took a moment to realize that this part of the woods seemed familiar when he then heard some beeping sounds up ahead. He gasped and quickly dug his feet into the ground just before a set of explosions went off in a line a few feet straight ahead of him. Dirt and gravel flew up into the air and Stiles moved his hands to cover his face from the debris. He suddenly realized that he had fallen into a trap. A hunter's trap. He had been corralled. Those arrows had pushed him to this spot so that he could fall into those bombs. He then turned to see that there was a metal sphere starting to bounce and roll towards him. Stiles quickly shifted and roared out just before the metal ball exploded. Sparks and shards of metal started to fly out and Stiles was caught in them. He tried to brace himself but the metal shards went and pieced the skin of his arms and some managed to scratch into his face. The sparks that made contact with his clothes began to burn small holes in them and caused Stiles to howl in pain from the heat. Miraculously, Stiles was still on his feet, but he was hunched over as he was bleeding and feeling the fresh burns still smoking slightly on him. He was wobbling a bit and he went to lean on a tree to keep from falling over as he tried to work through the pain.

There was then a chuckle. "Impressive. Most would be on the ground, writhing in agony after all that."

Stiles turned and brought his blue eyes up and saw a dark looking man with short hair stepping over to him. He had a hard-looking face and had a faded scar here and there. Stiles grit his fanged teeth at him and the man reached into his pocket and pulled out a knife. He went and flung it for Stiles but ducked and the knife got itself lodged right into the tree. Stiles lifted his head back at the man but saw the assassin was smiling. The next thing Stiles knew, he felt a hot pain hit him in his back. The knife in the tree behind him exploded and the force and heat of it made Stiles fall face first into the dirt.

"Damn you," Stiles growled out as his claws dug into the dirt.

The Bomber then went and pulled out a gun as he walked over to him. "I just want you to know, this isn't personal boy." He then went and pushed the safety off and pointed the gun at Stiles' head. "Just good business."

Stiles was panting but closed his eyes, waiting for the inevitable bang, and he heard it. Stiles heard a bang but he could still feel everything. Smell everything. He opened his eyes to realize that he could still see everything too. He then heard the sound of something falling to the ground and lifted his head to see that the assassin was on the ground. Stiles could smell blood starting to ooze out of him as he stayed motionless on the ground.

"Stiles? Are you alright?"

Stiles went and lifted himself to his knees and heard someone running over to him and then kneel next to him. Stiles turned and his eyes widened at who it was. "Mr. Tate?" Henry Tate, his girlfriend's father, he was the last person Stiles expected to see tonight. Stiles then saw that the man's rifle was in his hands and he could smell that it was just fired. "You saved me?"

"I could hear the explosions as they were going off one after the other. I thought it was vandals messing around so I grabbed my rifle to try and scare them off before they burned the woods down. I got here in time to see you get knocked forward by that small explosion at that tree. When I saw the guy take out his gun, I just-"

Stiles then realized why the place seemed familiar to him a moment ago. Malia and her dad's house was close by. "He was about to kill me."

Henry went and looked at the body of the man that he just shot. "Is he one of them? Those assassins?"

"How do you-"

"Your father told me. Ever since he did, I make sure that I have my gun loaded and ready in case anyone tries to lay a hand on my daughter." He then looked Stiles over as he helped the boy to his feet. "Damn, we should get you to a hospital."

"No, no I'm fine. I can feel myself starting to heal already. Besides, I can't leave yet."

"Why not?"

But then Stiles heard a small howl sound through the air. "Liam!" he gasped. Stiles then broke away from Mr. Tate and headed off.

"Stiles!" the man called after him as he moved the strap of his gun over his shoulder and followed after him.

* * *

Liam was trying to climb up the well by grabbing and pushing himself on every loose stone he could grab. It seemed like he was doing good but when he was halfway up the well, he started to come across loose gripping rocks and he slipped and fell all the way back into the water. Liam got so frustrated that he went and punched the nearby wall. He managed to crack it but his hand hurt like hell. As he looked at his hand, he saw that his blood had streaks of yellow in it. He could make out a faint scent that he guessed was wolfsbane. The same that Garrett had no doubt used on Brett and tried to use on him and Stiles last night. It was keeping him from tapping into his healing.

He couldn't help but think back to when Scott showed him the boathouse window that he had broken through. He had pointed out that all the cuts and scrapes he got had healed and Liam thought that was one good thing of being a werewolf now. Scott had told him that while it may be good for him, it may be bad for someone else and he had to get a grip on himself. Liam told him that he'd been trying for years to do just that. He explained that his stepfather told him that people like him deal in one of two ways: Either they hurt themselves or they hurt someone else. Liam took a deep breath and he then started to try and climb again. Slowly and steady.

As he climbed, he then started to hear faint boom noises. Liam thought that the sounds were a lot like firecrackers. And they didn't sound like they were coming from too far away. "Help!" he tried calling again. Liam pulled himself up about a third of the way when he then heard a wolfish howl echo its way into the well. He narrowed his eyes in confusion. "Stiles?" he mumbled. He didn't know how, but he knew that was Stiles' howl. His mind then flashed back to last night. When Stiles had visited him and Liam told him that he never got his number. Stiles had said that wolves had their own ways of calling and signaling their pack. They howl. Liam panted and grit his teeth. He had been screaming for help all day with no luck, but if he howled then someone would come for him? "Just howl," he mumbled to himself. That was what Stiles said he had to do. He grit his teeth before he then took a deep breath. His eyes flashed gold as he let a hard howl out. After he did, he just stood there and panted as he felt his muscles slag a bit again. He just stayed there for a few minutes and thought that it hadn't worked. He was about to resume climbing when he saw the light from the top of the well covered up a bit as someone looked down into the well.

"Liam?!" It was Stiles.

"Yeah," he cried out. "It's me."

Stiles then went to pull the wooden panels covering the well completely off. He looked over and spotted Malia's dad rushing over.

"He's really in there?" he asked.

"Yeah, but he's hurt. I can smell the blood from here. We need to get him out."

"Uh, I'll run back to my house and get some rope."

"Just hurry," he called after the man as he took off. Stiles then looked down as he got a clearer look into the well since he allowed for more moonlight to shine in. "Liam, don't move anymore. Stay where you are, okay? We're going to pull you out!"

Stiles stayed watching over Liam for a few minutes when he heard something moving for them. It couldn't be Mr. Tate because it was more than one person. He hoped that it wasn't more assassins. He didn't think he had the strength to fight any more right now.

"Stiles!" a voice called out.

"Malia!" he called out as he recognized the voice.

A few seconds later, Stiles saw Malia and Derek running through the trees. Stiles went over and took Malia into his arms for a tight hug. She pulled away and looked him over.

"What the hell happened to you?" she asked him.

"Assassin," he gasped out. "One who was very intense fetish for exploding weapons and bombs."

"You alright?" Derek asked him.

Stiles nodded. "I'll be fine. And hopefully, so will Liam. He's down there." Malia and Derek went to look down the well at him.

"What's he doing down there?"

"It's a long story." But Stiles narrowed his eyes as he caught the scent on them. "Why do you two smell like blood and dead people?"

"Also a long story," Derek told him. "Malia could tell you about it. And you were right, she was a big help." He then saw Malia nod her head a bit and Stiles smile proudly at her.

Mr. Tate came back with the rope and was surprised to find his daughter and Derek there too. Stiles threw the rope down and told Liam to hold on as the four of them moved to pull him out. Derek told them that he had to go and help Braeden and after learning that she was a friend of theirs, Malia's dad told Derek to come to their house as he had a first aid kit that he could use. Malia went with Stiles and helped him to carry Liam off to his jeep so that they could get Liam some help.

* * *

Scott managed to track down the scent to what seemed to be an old loading building. When Chris stepped out of the car, he had a curious look on his face.

"You've been here before?" Scott asked him.

The man sighed. "I worked here. I used to own the building. It was part of our business."

Scott saw that Chris was starting to let everything start coming down on him. Kate had chosen this building because it had once meant something to them. Their family. She might be planning to use that against him. "I fought these things before. They're strong. Really strong."

He finally tore his gaze from the building and began to walk for the back of his car. "That's why I brought this." He then revealed a large automatic rifle.

Scott couldn't help taking a step back at the sight of it. "I'm good with that."

They then moved into building where they saw clear plastic coverings over dusty old desks and cubicles. It was quiet and empty, or so it seemed. As they were moving through the place, Scott just suddenly stopped.

"Scott? Do you hear something?" Chris asked when he noticed the boy's face.

Scott didn't know why but he felt a tugging feeling on his spine all of a sudden. "Uh, there's…I think something's happening. To-"

But before he could finish they heard a familiar voice call out.

"You shouldn't have come."

Scott and Chris shared a look.

"Kate, I'm here for Violet. I need to talk to her," Scott calmly called out.

Chris moved forward when he spotted movement. They then saw a shadowy outline appear behind the plastic.

"I knew you'd find me. I was hoping we could do this later. I just needed a bit more time."

They then saw two more shadows appear with Kate's and knew she wasn't alone.

"To do what?" Chris asked her.

"To learn control." Then Kate stepped out to fully face her brother for the first time since that fateful night in front of the Hale House. Kate's face was shifted and her claws were out. She started to slowly walk over to them. "Lower the gun and we walk away. You don't have to get hurt."

"Where's Violet?" Scott asked her.

But Kate kept her gaze on her brother. "Put the gun down Chris."

Chris didn't lower his gun.

"Where is she?" Scott asked again. Kate wasn't saying anything to him. Instead, he saw that the Berserkers were starting to move in and Chris was getting ready to squeeze the trigger. "No, no," he tried to reason with him. But the Berserkers charged and Chris started shooting. "Stop!" Scott cried to him.

But Chris didn't stop. And neither did the Berserkers. No matter how many bullets they got pelted with, they kept their charge. Scott threw himself in front of them to make sure they didn't skewer Chris like they did with Violet and he drove them off to the side. Scott moved to try and avoid each of their hits, even jumped over a table before one of them smashed it in half with one missed blow. Chris went for Kate but she shrugged off each of his blows before she threw him to the side. She then ran off and the Berserkers ran after her. Scott quickly ran over to where they had come from and found Violet. She was tied to a chair but her throat was slashed. She was dead.

Chris made his way over to him and saw Violet dead in the chair. "I'm sorry," he said as he took hold of Scott's shoulder. He knew that the girl was the only hope Scott had to find his beta in time.

But Scott heard a distant howl vibrate in his ears. He looked out in the direction that it came from. "Liam," he mumbled.

He and Chris then went over for his car as he asked to take him in the direction he heard the howl come from. They were close to the woods when Scott's phone started to vibrate. He looked and saw that it was the Sheriff.

"Scott," he heard the Sheriff say as soon as he answered it. "I have some news."

"What? Is it my dad?"

"No, no," he said quickly. "You're father's fine. Just a few bumps and bruises but it's nothing a night in the hospital won't cure. But that's not it. You're still looking for Liam?"

"Yeah, but I know where he is," Scott told him. "He's in the woods. I'm heading over there with Argent now."

"Scott, Liam's not there."

"No, he is. I just heard his howl a little while ago."

"Yes but he's not there anymore Scott. He's at the animal clinic."

Scott's face fell as he looked over at Chris. "How do you know?"

"Because I just got a call from Derek. Stiles and Henry Tate found him."

Scott gasped as he looked over at Chris. "Turn us around," he told him.

* * *

Lydia was back in the station, sitting at Parrish's desk, as the man himself walked over and handed her a cup of hot tea.

"Thanks," she slurred out as she took it.

"So, what happened back there?" he asked as he went to sit across from her.

"With what?" Lydia asked innocently.

But Parrish gave her a pointed look. "You know with what. Meredith, she's psychic like you, isn't she?"

"We're not psychic."

"Then what are you? Because you're something."

Lydia went and took a sip from her tea. "It's…hard to explain."

"Then explain to me and I'll try to follow as best I can. Remember, I try to keep an open mind." He then went and pulled out the copy of the list that Lydia gave him. The part with his name on it. "I have a feeling I'm going to have to now."

"Well, I get these…feelings. Not psychic feelings," she said quickly. "But basically, it's like I know when someone is going to die. Or if someone has died."

Parrish's eyes rose. "And how is that not being psychic?" Lydia cracked a small smile at that. He then stared down at the hit list. "Is that how did you got this?"

"More or less," she explained meekly. "But I'm having trouble getting all of it. I've only managed to get the first one by myself. Meredith helped me with the second part."

"With Cypher Keys." Parrish looked at the Cypher Key printed on the top. Aiden. "Is there something special about the name?"

"He…was just a friend of ours."

Parrish's face softened at Lydia's dropping voice. "Sounds like he was more than just a friend."

Lydia's face fell a bit. "Potentially. His name broke this part of the list."

"And the other part of the list. A name broke that one too."

She nodded. "Yeah. Allison, she was another friend. My best friend actually."

"So, the cypher keys are names. Names of people that have died."

"Yeah. I've tried putting in other names of people that have died, and trust me there were a lot; but none of them have worked."

"Well, they're just not just any names. They're friends of yours, right? So maybe you should focus on using their names?"

"I've already tried using the names of my dead friends."

"Well…didn't you say that you are able to sense when someone is going to die? Maybe the last one isn't a friend that's dead-"

"But is going to be," Lydia said straightening up.

Lydia quickly went and pulled out her laptop and pulled up the Deadpool's algorithm. It then asked for a Cypher Key. She closed her eyes and let her fingers rest on the keyboard. She didn't let any thoughts come to her. She just breathed in and out and then found her fingers just begin to press down on the keys. She hit one. Then another. And another. She then opened her eyes and gasped when she saw that she had actually typed a name. And not just any name. DEREK. She shared a look with Parrish before she went and then hit ENTER. As soon as she did, the third part of the Deadpool started to decrypt and reveal itself.

 **SATOMI ITO 10**

 **MALIA HALE 4**

 **LIAM DUNBAR 5**

 **MEREDITH WALKER 1**

 **LIZ MOORE 1**

 **PATRICK CLARK 1**

 **BREE LEVERETT 250**

 **KAITLYN SCHAAR 250**

 **GENEVIVE CARY 250**

 **ANGELIQUE FAIN 250**

 **LORILEE ROHR 250**

 **BRITTANI KEGLEY 250**

Lydia ran her fingers across the list as she let it stop on the fourth name on the list. She then looked over at Parrish.

"Call Eichen House. Now."

Parrish moved to the phone and quickly dialed the place and was on the phone for about twenty minutes as Lydia paced back and forth nearby. She finally stopped when Parrish hung up the phone and she saw that he was hunched over his desk. He then let out a deep breath and picked himself up to head over to her.

"Lydia…I'm sorry."

Her face widened. "Parrish…what happened? Is Meredith okay?"

He looked at her with a pained look in his eyes. "No Lydia. As soon as I asked for her, they sent an orderly to her room. He found Meredith, hanging. She killed herself."

"What?" she asked in a cracking voice. "No. No." Lydia was starting to cry and Parrish went and took her in his arms and hugged her as she started to weep into him.

* * *

Deaton came out of his office with a small box of vials as his operating room started to get crowded. "Put him on the table," he told them.

Stiles and Malia stomped over with Liam whose arms was over their shoulders as he was being walked over to it. "Whoa, easy," he said as Liam nearly toppled over when he tried to lay himself on it. Stiles then turned to Deaton. "You can help him, right?" Stiles asked as Liam's breathing started to sag a bit. "Like you did with Brett?"

Deaton slapped his gloves on as he moved to give Liam's wound a look and checked Liam's eyes with a light. "Yes, I believe so. The poison doesn't seem to have started seeping into his heart or lungs yet. It's a good thing you kept him from straining himself further. If Liam had kept his blood pumping any more, he could've made the poison spread through his system faster." He then looked down at Liam's face. "This is going to hurt a bit." He then pulled out a scalpel.

Liam's eyes widened. "What?"

"Hey," Stiles said as he went and put his hand on his shoulder. "It's okay. Just relax."

"Hold him down," Deaton told them. Stiles and Malia moved to hold Liam's shoulders like he and Derek had done to Brett. "Brace yourself Liam," Deaton warned him.

Liam grit his teeth. "Just do it."

Deaton then started to cut into Liam and he sucked in air through his clenched teeth. Stiles and Malia held him down and kept him from fidgeting as Deaton kept cutting into his chest. As Deaton cut, a small cloud of yellow mist spewed out of Liam like it had with Brett. Deaton then removed the scalpel and the mist soon began to dissipate. Liam then stopped fidgeting and his muscles relaxed. Stiles and Malia then loosened their grip as Liam started to breathe a little deeply.

"Alright. All he needs is just some rest."

"Good," Stiles said. He then looked over to the side and noticed that Brett was standing there, a blanket wrapped over his shoulders, as he looked over at them. "Brett, you're looking better."

He nodded. "Yeah." His eyes fell on Liam. Liam was lifting his head a bit to look back blurrily at his rival. "Liam, the psycho couple?" he guessed.

"Yeah," Stiles sighed. He then looked over at Malia and remembered what she told him as they had been coming here. About what she and Derek had found. "Uh Brett, I think we should talk. It's about your pack."

Malia stayed over to the side, watching over Liam when she heard the back door open and soon saw Scott scamper on in with Chris Argent following behind him.

"He's okay?" he asked as soon as he spotted Liam lying on the table.

"Yeah, he's fine, considering he was dumped in a well and nearly poisoned to death," she shrugged at him.

Scott and Argent gave her a small look before Scott shook himself out of it and went over to Liam who looked tiredly at him. "Liam, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have left you alone like that."

But Liam shook his head. "No, it's all my fault. I…I let him take me. I should've been more careful."

"Okay Scott, I know you want to talk but you'll have to save it for later. We should let him rest for a bit longer." Deaton said to him gently.

Scott gave Liam's shoulder a final friendly tap and backed away. He watched as Liam shut his eyes and started to rest up. He then scanned the room. "Uh, where's Stiles?"

"He's talking with Brett over at the waiting area," Deaton told him.

Scott went over and saw that Stiles was standing over Brett, who was sitting on one of the chairs, with his face a bit pained. Stiles had a hand on the guy's shoulder with a semi-hard look on his face. They both looked up and noticed Scott.

"Uh, Brett do you mind giving us a minute?" Scott asked him.

"Yeah," he nodded before he stood up. "Oh, and I couldn't say it before but thanks, for saving me." Brett then went and extended his hand out to Scott.

He went and shook it. "Anytime." Brett then went off for the backroom, leaving Scott there with Stiles. "Hey," he sighed to his friend.

"Hey," Stiles said back. "I was just telling Brett about what happened to his pack."

"Oh." Scott stepped over to them. "Are you okay? Your dad called and told me what happened to you."

Stiles just shrugged. "A little sore but I'll heal. What about your dad? I heard about what happened to him."

Scott nodded. "He's fine. Uh, how'd you know about Liam being taken?"

"Mason," Stiles answered. "He came by and told me that Liam had gone missing during their morning run. He was worried and thought that Garrett might be behind it. I went to where he vanished and started to track him down."

Scott sighed in relief. "Yeah, Garrett poisoned him and tried to use him to get me to help free Violet. But it doesn't matter now, both of them are dead. Kate and her Berserkers killed them."

Stiles tilted his head a bit. "Oh, well that's two down. Only who knows how many more to go. The assassin that attacked me, Derek said that he went to where Malia's dad brought him down and saw that he was gone. And now, one or more may have killed about half a dozen members of Brett's pack. And more are bound to show up. What are we going to do?"

"Survive," Argent said as he stepped into the waiting area and rested himself at the front desk. "At this point, that's all you pretty much can do."

Scott sighed as he looked over at the room where Liam was resting on the table. Tonight, two people that he cared about could've died. He could also make out Brett who just lost a lot of members in his pack tonight including Demarco and Carrie. All because they were on the Deadpool. "I can't just keep watching people die."

Argent let a tired breath out. "I'm not sure you have much of a choice."

But Scott's face hardened a bit. "Maybe I do."

"Scott, there's just too many to protect all at once," Stiles mumbled to him. "And we don't know who or what we need to protect them from until it's too late."

Scott shook his head. "I don't care. No one else dies. We are going to save them. Everyone, all the people on that Deadpool. It doesn't matter if they're Wendigos, werewolves or whatever. I'm going to save everyone."

Argent was staring hard at Scott's resolve and Deaton was leaning by the doorframe as he had listened in on what Scott said.

As for Stiles, he let his back fall against the wall. Stiles wondered if Scott was including the assassins in that equation. He knew that Scott was set in saving everyone around him, but that seemed to always include the people that were dropping the bodies too. Stiles remembered how Scott dealt with Gerard, Matt, and Jennifer. Stood in their way and Scott felt that had been enough to save everyone but Stiles disagreed. He then flashed back to fighting against both Garrett and that bomb guy. These people wouldn't hesitate to risk and cause even more collateral damage than necessary to get what they wanted. The only way they were finally stopped was when they had been taken out and there was no reason to believe that the other assassins they met would be any different. Simply standing in their way wasn't going to be enough, not this time. But whatever it takes, Stiles would see to it himself, if Scott couldn't. He wouldn't let these people think they could just kill, collect and then cut and run.

Argent let his eyes fall on the beta. There were tears at his clothes as well as a few burn marks and he also saw some half healed cuts spread about but the boy didn't seem to be paying them any mind as he stared at his friend. He couldn't help but notice the look in Stiles' eyes and had a inkling of what might be running through the young man's mind. He watched as Stiles seemed to sense his gaze and let his stare fall away from Scott and over at him. They kept eye contact for a moment before Argent excused himself.

"Hey Stiles," Scott said as he walked over to him. "Can you come over to my house for a minute? I need to show you something."

* * *

The Bomber had his car parked on the side of the road as he was using some pliers to painfully yank the bullet out from his torso. He couldn't help but think he was lucky. If the bullet had just been an inch further up, his lung would've been pierced and he would be dead. After he had been shot, he had been so stunned that even he thought he was dead. But he regained consciousness and pulled himself to make it back to his car and drove off as far as his remaining strength allowed. His screams got deeper the deeper he moved the pliers into his flesh. He then pulled on them and sighed in relief as he stared at the bloody bullet. He then threw it to the side before he grabbed a piece of wet cloth and placed it over his wound. He then lifted his head up to see that there was someone standing in front of his car. This person then went and raised a gun and before he could react, three shots were fired and the bullets pierced the window and found their way into his chest. A fourth shot was then made and the bullet lodged itself in between his eyes.

The shooter sighed as he went to pocket his gun. "I'm sure you could understand that it's not personal. It's just good business." He then moved to walk off and leave the Bomber there with some blood running down his face from the hole in his forehead.

* * *

Melissa was sitting in the kitchen, looking over at the bills and notices that were piled in front of her. She rubbed her head and tried not to break down at the pressure of it all. Above her, in Scott's room, Scott had taken Stiles and shown him the bag he got from Garrett. Stiles felt all the air in his lungs escape when his eyes fell on the piles of money that was inside of it.

"Five Hundred Thousand. That's how much Garrett said that he and Violet got. Did you count it yet?"

Scott shook his head. "No."

Stiles rubbed at the bottom of his lip nervously. "Maybe we should count it."

Scott exhaled deeply before he reached for the bag and began to pour the money out onto the floor in front of them. As the rolls of cash piled on the floor, both of their eyes blinked at the sheer number of them. As the last of the bills left the bag, something else fell on them. They looked and saw that it was a cassette tape. Scott picked it up and saw the words PLAY ME written on it.

* * *

Kate was sitting in a sewer and was gritting her teeth as she was letting herself bathe in its water. She couldn't believe that she was now resorting to this.

Some chuckling snapped her out of her thoughts. "I suppose you're hiding here to try and hide your scent? But I can smell a rat. Even in a sewer." Peter then stepped out to reveal himself. Kate quickly reached for her weapon and stood up but Peter was unconcerned. "It's getting worse, isn't it? The surges of anger, the loss of control. You know, I used to get angry, as a kid. I would even break my own toys in little fits of rage and I would ask myself: Why break your own toys when you could break someone else's?"

Kate rolled her eyes. "Stop pitching and just tell me what you want."

Peter smiled. "Obviously, we are in a position of mutually assured destruction."

But Kate just chuckled at him. "Oh, I'm not so sure the scales are that bad." She then tilted her head toward her Berserkers which were standing in wait not too far away.

"Probably true," Peter said as he gave them a look. "But I know you want to get the family back together. The return of the Argents to their glorious power, am I right?" he asked mockingly. "But you know you can't go back unless you can exhibit absolute and total control. I can offer you control. I can teach you."

"So, you're willing to teach me to get what you want?" she asked skeptically. "Which is what?"

The smirk faded from Peter's face. "Obviously I want my money back."

Kate wasn't buying it. "No, that's not it. Well, maybe part of it. But that's not all you want."

"I need the money," Peter pressed as he got closer. "Yes, I'll admit, but money only gets you so far." He was now in front of her face. "What I want is what I always want." He then leaned in and whispered one word in Kate's ear. "Power."

* * *

A/N: Well, tonight was the finale. Oh what a great seven years it's been. Oh, and for anyone who wants to better visualize my new assassin, The Bomber, I based his look on Temuera Morrison. The guy that played Jango Fett in Star Wars. A little inside reference for Stiles' favorite movies and his assassin was portrayed by someone from them. A bounty hunter at that.


	13. Weaponized

Chapter 13: Weaponized

It was dark when there were a few police cars parked on the side of the road at the woods. There were half a dozen policemen as they were crowding around the area of a turned over car that's lights were blinking and was still smoking a bit. Nearby were two bodies that were covered up, a woman and a little girl. There was a hand sticking out from the older one of them. It had a few scratches on it and some dried up blood on the palm. The skin was paled from death which seemed to be illuminated by the moonlight shining overhead. The pale and scarred hand was being looked at by Noah Stilinski. He went and bent down to put the woman's uncovered hand back into the sheet with a sorrowful expression on his face.

"Sheriff?" one of the deputies said as he came to him. But the man kept his gaze on the body. "Sheriff?" the man tried again and that made him snap his gaze from the bodies.

"Oh, sorry," he apologized. "I guess I'm not used to that yet." Noah sighed as he went to get to his feet. He had been elected as Sheriff of Beacon Hills only two weeks ago so he wasn't used to being referred as that. "What is it?"

"I found some tracks nearby. From the look of them, I think it might be from a coyote."

Noah was brought to see the tracks. "Guess that explains the marks that are on the bodies. It looks like those two had been clawed by an animal."

The man then brought up a small bundle. "And I found this next to them."

He gave it to the Sheriff and he saw that it was a shirt. It looked like it would fit a small girl but it was torn up.

Another deputy then made his way to them. "Sheriff, I managed to ID the bodies. The woman is Evelyn Tate and the girl is her daughter Kiley. Apparently, they and Evelyn's older daughter Malia were seen at the rink for a recital. It looks like the three were heading home."

Noah looked at the torn shirt in his hand. "Any sign of Malia?" he asked.

The two deputies shook their heads. "No sir."

"It looks like she was-" The second man couldn't seem to finish that sentence.

But Noah didn't need him too. He sighed and looked up at the full moon shining through the trees. "Do they have any other family?"

"Evelyn's husband, Henry Tate. He works until the early evening so he's probably home now."

"Do you have an address?"

The second man nodded. "I'll head over there right now."

"No," Noah said gently before the man could make a move. "It's okay. I'll go. Just, wrap up everything here and see that these two get to the morgue at the hospital," he said giving the bodies of the Tates one last look.

Beyond the area, a pair of soft eyes were taking in the scenes. A wolf was looking through the trees as it took in the people, the car…and the bodies. It let out a small whine as it kept its eyes on the two wrapped up bundles before it then ran off. Had it stayed there for five more seconds then it would've seen Noah Stilinski narrow his eyes as he looked over to the trees, to where it had been just a moment before. The wolf ran around the scene until it got to the street. It moved its nostrils to the asphalt as it sniffed around. After it picked up a particular scent, it raised its head to reveal red eyes as it let out a small growl. The wolf then heard some of the officers beginning to move for the street and it quickly pranced off for the trees on the other side. It ran until it was a good distance away before it just stopped and stood there. It started to shift and in a moment was replaced with the naked form of Talia Hale.

She was shaking her head. As she had taken in the area, she had smelled the scent of the Tates, as well as gunpowder, blood, and the scent of a werecoyote that she never believed she would again. Mixed in were the endorphins released from everyone's emotions. With all of that, her mind was able to paint a full picture of what happened. Talia saw the three Tates, Evelyn, Malia and Kiley. They were calm and happy from their nice night together until their car came upon a werecoyote that was lying in wait. She then picked up her guns and opened fire on the car. Evelyn panicked and she moved to try and get away but the sudden and sharp turn sent the car into the trees where it plummeted down into a ravine.

"Corrine," she mumbled. "What have you done?"

In another part of the woods, a small coyote was running through the trees as it held a small doll in its jaws. It just kept running and running into the darkness of the woods.

* * *

Scott and Stiles listened to the tape they found in Garrett's bag. A voice, that was no doubt masked, was explaining the procedure for obtaining payment once visual confirmation was given. After that, a wire transfer would occur for the payment of each mark on the list. Scott quickly shut it off when they were done listening.

"You ever made a wire transfer?" Stiles asked him.

"I never had enough money," said Scott.

Stiles nodded. "So you didn't understand a word of that either."

"I don't understand any of this. Why would someone use all this money just to kill us?"

"Someone who really wants us dead," Stiles mused glumly. "All of us." Stiles went and wiped at his eyes. "And if we don't stop them, it's only a matter of time before they get what they want." Scott went and started packing up the cash. "Whoa, what are you doing?"

"We have PSAT's and I need to get some rest."

But Stiles shook his head. "No, I meant the money Scott. That's half a million dollars and what, you're just going to slide it under your mattress?"

"I have to talk to Derek. The money's his."

"Actually it's his and Peter's," Stiles said pointedly.

Scott narrowed his eyes. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Stiles went and picked himself up from the floor. "It means that we should…proceed with caution."

"What are you saying? That we shouldn't tell Derek?"

"No," Stiles huffed out. "We have to tell him. And we will…but I'm saying that some of that money is Peter's."

"So?"

"So?" Stiles repeated back to him. "Scott, it's Peter. Remember him? The homicidal maniac who tried to kill us and our friends? You want to go and give half a million dollars to him? We should take some time and really consider it."

Scott shook his head as he picked himself up too. "So wait, you want to give Derek his money back, but not Peter?"

"Do you really think we should?"

"It's his money," Scott told him.

But Stiles narrowed his eyes at him. "That's not what I asked you Scott."

Now Scott narrowed his eyes. "Are you saying we should just keep it?"

"Do you want me to? Is that why you brought me to see it Scott?" Scott just stared at Stiles for a moment. They didn't say a word or make a sound. They both just kept their tense stare down and didn't move a muscle. It was finally broken when Stiles' phone started ringing. Before he had come over to Scott's he had gone to the school and gotten it back. He moved over for it and saw that it was his dad calling. "Dad?" he said picking it up.

As Stiles was talking with his father, Scott moved to zip the bag of money up and kicked it under his bed. He looked up to see that Stiles' face had widened. "What's up?" he asked when Stiles hung up the phone.

"It's the assassin that tried to kill me. The Bomber, they found him."

"Your dad arrested him?"

Stiles shook his head. "No, he's dead. They found his body in a car pulled over on the side of the road. Someone shot him."

* * *

Rafael McCall was flipping through a file that the bureau sent him on the man whose body they had just found dead in his car. He was a former demolitions expert who became a mercenary for hire that had gotten quite the federal rap sheet. His specialty was using explosives in small to large scale amounts. He was suspected in over two dozen arson incidents, several car bombings and tied to at least three dozen killings that all had corporate connections in the last six years. In his car, police found a cache of weapons that had small C4 charges built into them. Arrows, daggers and throwing projectiles that were custom built and designed to explode on delayed contact as well as detonators and remote triggered bombs. This man had been fully equipped and seemed to be ready to do a lot of mercenary work.

Rafael wondered what drew a man like that to a town like Beacon Hills. What were any of these people were doing in Beacon Hills? The Orphans, Garrett and Violet, were also found dead as well as the killer of the Walcotts, and now this bomber. These weren't the sort of people to come to these neck of the woods for the hell of it, they were here for a reason and he felt that it had something to do with his son and his friends. He then remembered Braeden and her warnings. His hand went to rub at a sore spot he had at the back of his head. He passed out before he could see much but from what he could make out, the one that killed Garrett was big. Scott had told him Garrett's killer had his face covered and then ran when he said that he already called the police. But Rafael knew by now that he shouldn't buy that. Something more was going on and it seemed to involve Scott and his friends being connected to all these high profile killers. Were they the reason these people were even here? Why? That was what wasn't making any sense. Well, on top of everything else since he had first come back to Beacon Hills.

He had been taken to the hospital to get bandaged up but it looked like he was spared from staying there as his injury wasn't too serious. He learned from Melissa that Scott was already home, safe and sound, but didn't ask anymore. He knew that if he tried to pry, his son would just deflect all his attempts away. So, he tried to find some answers with this latest addition to the ever growing craziness in this town.

There was then a knock. "Agent?"

Rafael looked up and noticed Deputy Haigh at the door. "Haigh, what is it?"

The man lifted a small laptop up. "The laptop that was found in the Bomber's car. The Sheriff asked for Parrish to unlock it and he just finished. I told him that I would give it to the Sheriff for him but I checked it out and found something." Rafael moved to take the laptop from him but Haigh pulled it away before he could grab it. "It's big. And the Sheriff had asked that it be brought straight to him first."

Rafael gave him a hard look before he sighed and went to the drawer and pulled out a small checkbook. He quickly made a check for a thousand dollars and then handed it to him. "Thank you."

"My pleasure," Haigh said as he pocketed the check.

He then left the room, leaving Rafael alone to check out the laptop. He quickly opened it and saw that there was already a program running. He clicked on it to see that it was a series of wireless cameras that seemed to be set up in the woods. He went and started to rewind the footage and stopped when he found movement. He then let it play and his eyes widened when he saw a small explosion go off just as someone was running. He then zoomed in and gasped.

"No way," he mumbled.

The figure in the footage was Stiles. He saw the boy running through a series of small explosions and one camera caught him making a giant leap over a tall rock. His face passed one of them and Rafael paused the image. He guessed that it must be a flare or trick of light in the recording as it seemed like Stiles' eyes were glowing a small blue hue. He then saw that there was a video file dated the day before all of this and he clicked it. He saw a small car parked. It seemed to be empty but a moment later, there was movement. It was Stiles again. He approached the car carefully but alert and he pulled the driver's door open. He seemed to look inside for a moment until the boy frantically jumped away and tried to run as the car exploded a second later. He saw Stiles get thrown off by the force of it but get up a second later. Rafael didn't know what to make of all this but one thing was clear. This bomber had been targeting Stilinski's boy and he would bet that the Sheriff knew. Maybe even Scott knew. But none of them, or Stiles, had said anything. He didn't know what to make of this but one thing was clear. Whatever it was that they were all involved in was more bigger and crazier than he originally thought and he would have to finally step in and stop trying to be so subtle in learning what it was.

While Rafael had been looking at the footage, Haigh had gone back to his desk. He checked to see if there was anyone that might see him, and when he saw that it was safe, he reached into his pocket for a flash drive. When Haigh had checked the laptop, he had made a copy of something he found on it and then deleted before he handed it to Agent McCall. He inserted the drive into his computer and pulled up the second part of the Deadpool that he found open on the Bomber's computer. He ran his fingers over the name of the Sheriff's son and Jordan Parrish.

* * *

The Chemist was in his makeshift lab, in front of his laptop. Nearby, there was a small cassette player that was playing the message from the Benefactor. The Benefactor typed in the code and waited until a message appeared on his screen saying: **The Money Has Been Transferred To Your Account**. He then reached over and picked up his gun, the one that he had just used to kill that other assassin. It was now empty as he had used all the bullets up in between killing the other assassin and on the mercenary trying to protect some of his targets. He begin to reload the chambers before he cocked the barrel back in. He couldn't afford any competition or conflictions with his plans. The Bomber had been close to cashing in one of the biggest names on the list. With him dead, the mark will no doubt resume his normal routine and be where he needs him to be with the others. And, that mercenary was no doubt rotting along with the others so there was no forewarning she could give anyone else. Add in the fact that he had heard on the wire that the Orphans had also been dealt with, his path was all the more clear.

The Chemist smiled as he went over and let his eyes pass over an official PSAT pamphlet. He went to the tea kettle that was resting atop a Bunsen burner and poured some of the liquid into a mug. He went and drank the tea slowly and let out a satisfied huff of air. Next to the tea kettle was another beaker that had some black liquid in it. He then started to mix in the final ingredients needed for his plan.

* * *

Derek was standing off to a far corner of the room as he watched Braeden rest up on the hospital bed. After he had brought her to the Tate house, he and Henry Tate moved to treat her and take the bullet out from where she had been shot. Henry had taken to getting his home filled with medicine and a home medical kit that he told him that Melissa McCall had provided for him. While Derek used it to try and get the bullet out, Henry called Melissa personally. After Derek removed the bullet, Henry went and drove them to the hospital where Melissa was already waiting for them and told them that she had gotten a room ready for Braeden. He thanked Henry for all his help as he left them and he said that it was the least he could do. Derek couldn't help but think that Malia was lucky to have a man like him as her foster father. The way he wanted to protect his cousin and seemed to worry and care for her, you would think that he was actually her birth father. He was certainly far better than the one that Malia had. Derek could fully see now why Stiles was so reluctant to tell his cousin the truth. Malia had everything going for her right now, to tell her and throw Peter into her life, it could bring it all down. Derek didn't want that for Malia, especially now after getting the chance to bond with her.

Derek pulled away from Braeden's room and walked over into the hallway and started to pull out his phone. It rang two times before the other side answered. "Cora," he said when he heard her breathing.

" _Derek_ ," she said back in the same tone.

"Are you okay? Maggie left me a message saying that you were having a few pains."

" _I'm fine. But don't you think that I'm the one that should be asking that question?_ " she asked a little heatedly.

Derek sighed. "So you know."

" _Of course I know. You didn't honestly think that I was not going to find out something this big, did you? How dense are you Derek?!_ "

He resisted the urge to flinch at the bite in her tone. "You're angry." He wasn't sure if Cora was just that mad at him or if it was being amplified by her pregnancy.

Cora huffed through the receiver. " _Brilliant Sherlock. Yes, I'm angry. Do you any idea how it felt when one the local betas came to me and asked if I heard about the latest victims? How about half of a pack in Beacon County had fallen for the Deadpool and if you were okay but I had no clue what he was talking about? Maggie found us and tried to get him to shut up but I finally made her tell me what was going on. Why didn't you tell me that you were being hunted for money Derek? Or about that bitch Kate being back, and as a werejaguar with her own Berserker bodyguards? How could you keep_ that _from me?!"_

He sighed. "I didn't want to worry you Cora. You have enough to deal with right now. Okay, the last thing you need-"

But Cora cut him off. " _I'm pregnant Derek, not an invalid. Those assassins could forget about collecting on your ass because I'm going to kill you myself._ " She then took a deep breath and her tone seemed calmer. " _Are you alright?"_

Derek let a small smile sneak up on him. "Yes, I'm fine."

" _Good. What about the others? Who else is on this thing?_ "

Derek went and sat himself down on a nearby chair. "Everyone Cora," he sighed out heavily. "Scott, Stiles, Lydia, Kira, Scott's new beta Liam…Malia."

" _Our new cousin_ ," Cora sighed.

"Right. And we're all worth millions Cora. Whoever is the one that made this Deadpool, the Benefactor, he wants us all dead."

Cora paused for a moment as she took all of that in. " _And she doesn't know? About us?_ "

"Malia, no. Stiles doesn't want her to know, at least not yet."

" _Oh_ ," she said softly.

"Cora," Derek started.

" _No Derek_ ," she said quickly. " _It's okay. Really, I get it. It's fine. What he does and with who is his business._ "

Derek rolled his eyes. He didn't need to be have enhanced senses to know that Cora was lying to him. "If you ask me, I still think that you could do way better."

Cora snorted. " _Like you're one to talk. You seem to always lean towards the pretty but homicidal types._ "

"But," he said with a roll of his eyes even though his sister couldn't see it. Last night, he had seen how he was with Malia, how he fought to save Liam and remembered the other times he did the same for his other friends. Then he recalled the last time he sat for Cora in this hospital, after Stiles had chewed him out in her name and defense. He could start to see what probably caught his sister and cousin's eye. "I guess you could've done way worse."

" _I think that was almost a compliment_."

"Almost?" he said with a small smile. "Malia seems to have as high opinion about him as you do. You know, I worked with Malia last night to try and find that pack you heard about and more than once she made me think of you. Your strength, stubbornness, and isn't afraid to speak her mind," he added a bit fondly. "She seems to have inherited as much of the aspects of the Hale women as you did. I guess Stiles might see it too which would explain why he fell for her after you left."

" _Great Der, that's what every sister likes to hear. For their brother to tell them that the guy they hooked up with has a new girlfriend that reminds them a lot of you. Thanks._ "

Derek rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry. Give me a break. I'm still getting used to this whole big brother thing again."

" _It's okay. It's not like you were very good before anyway. But everyone's okay?_ "

"I wouldn't say that they're okay. They're all alive if that's what you mean."

" _What happened to everyone?_ "

"Well, so far Scott was attacked by an assassin couple who had just tried to kill him and his beta. But they both got out of it just fine. And Stiles, he was attacked by another assassin last night but came out of it in relatively one piece."

" _And you? Has anything happened to you yet?_ "

Derek had half a mind to tell her about what Kate had done to him and to what seemed to be happening to him now because of it, but he found himself saying. "No. No one's come for me, yet anyway."

" _Good. What about Peter? Not that I care but how's he handling being hunted for cash._ "

Derek let a small chuckle loose before it quickly faded. "Actually…he's not."

" _Not what?_ "

"Not being hunted. His name's not on the Deadpool."

" _What? Why?_ "

"Good question."

* * *

It had started to rain when Alan Deaton was leaving his clinic. As he was locking up for the night, he suddenly felt someone move in behind him. He quickly brought out a metal staff and quickly turned around while swinging it. The person behind him blocked it, with their own metal staff. The two of them started to swing and dart around each other until Deaton pulled back. He then went and gave his attacker a bow.

"You could've called Satomi san."

The other person then lifted their hood to reveal Satomi's face as she let her red eyes shine through. She gave the man a small smile.

* * *

Scott was at the side of his bed, looking again at the bundle of money that was in the bag. Outside his window, he didn't even register that Stiles' jeep had pulled up. Stiles sighed as he put the jeep in park and looked over at Malia. She had already unbuckled her seat belt and was heading out but stopped when she saw that Stiles didn't seem to be heading out.

"Aren't you coming in?" she asked him.

"No," he grumbled. "You can go on in and get him. I'll just wait out here." Stiles was still a little sore from early that morning. Scott had brought him to show all that money, knowing what he and his dad were going through. He didn't have to do that. If he wanted to give the money back to Peter then he should've just done it. He could tell that Scott wanted to keep it as much as him given what was happening with his mom and their own money situation. Stiles then gripped the steering wheel of his jeep harder. He had a feeling that Scott had brought him because he was feeling guilty about wanting to keep the money so he brought Stiles in so he could argue against it and make himself feel better. Stiles couldn't help but feeling like he was used by his friend right about now.

Malia saw Stiles gripping the steering wheel tighter all of a sudden and tilted her head at him. "Is something going on that I should know about?"

"No," Stiles shook his head quickly and gave her a small smile. "It's nothing."

Malia sighed and then left and headed for the house. Scott was still staring at the loads of cash with a solemn look on his face until he heard steps. He quickly put the rolls of money back in the bag and stood up just as Malia walked in through the door.

"Malia," he said a little too brightly.

"Stiles is outside and we're ready to go, if you still want that ride."

"Oh, yeah. Right, I'll be right down." He saw that the bag was still sticking out of the bottom of his bed quite a bit and then went and kicked it in.

Malia noticed and looked back up at him. "Is something going on that I should know about?" she repeated.

And, as if on repeat, Scott shook his head like Stiles had and smiled at her. "No, it's nothing."

Stiles was sitting in wait at his jeep when he saw someone heading for the house. His eyes widened when he saw who it was. He went and got out of the car and headed for him. "Liam?"

"Oh, hey."

"What are you doing here?"

"I was hoping to talk to Scott for a bit."

"About what?"

But at that moment, Scott came out of his front door with Malia following behind him.

"Liam, why are you here?"

"I was hoping to ask you about something."

"You're supposed to be home, resting."

"I'm fine," he sighed.

"You were poisoned," Scott stressed. "You almost died last night."

Liam looked over at Stiles. "Well Stiles was almost blown to bits last night and he's not home resting."

"Thanks Liam," Stiles said with a tired smile.

"He's been at this a lot longer." Scott tried to argue. "All of us have. We're already healed."

"And so am I. I'm healed too. Your boss got all the poison out of me and I feel okay. I just wanted to come and talk."

Scott sighed and shook his head. "What is it? Is something wrong?"

"No," Liam calmly answered. "I was just hoping that you could start teaching me more about what I could do. You know, as a werewolf."

Scott tensed a bit. "Look Liam, we have to get to school. We're taking our PSAT's."

"Unfortunately," Malia said as she went over for the jeep with Stiles following after her.

Scott gave them a look before turning back to Liam. "Look Liam, I don't want you worrying about this stuff right now. Leave it us. You just focus on living your life. Study, hang out with your friends, practice lacrosse. Try to stay as much as a normal kid as you can. Okay?"

Liam sighed but nodded. "Okay," he said.

Scott then hopped into the jeep and the three of them drove off leaving Liam watching after them with a worried gleam in his eye.

* * *

In the school hallway, there were a line of juniors who were waiting to be let in to take the PSAT. Among them were the pack and they were trying to calmly and quietly pass the time. Kira suddenly looked around as she noticed someone was missing.

"Where's Lydia?" she asked them. "Shouldn't she be here?"

"Lydia's not coming. After what happened with Meredith." Stiles' voice dropped a little at that and they all understood. His father told him what Parrish has said happened back in Eichen. Lydia would be taking Meredith's death a little personally. "Besides, she already took it her freshman year," Stiles told her.

Malia narrowed her eyes at him. "Does that mean that I could've taken it some other time?"

Scott gave her a look. "Malia, you studied harder for this than any of us."

"Doesn't mean I'm going to do good," she all but spat out.

"Well," Stiles mumbled.

"Well what?" she asked.

"Uh, it's do well, not do good," he explained to her.

"Oh God," she huffed at him.

"Sorry," he said backing off.

"Hey," Scott cut in. "You're doing this because while we're trying not to die, we still need to live. If I survive high school I'd like to go to college. A good college."

Kira shrugged. "It's only three hours," she pointed out. "We can survive three hours."

Stiles sighed. "Knock on some wood."

"Guys, it's okay. We'll be okay. What's a test compared to some assassins?" Scott told them.

Malia gave him a blank look. "Uh, actually I rather face assassins then sit through a test."

That actually made Kira smile a bit before the door of the classroom opened. The test proctor stepped out into the hall.

"Please step inside," he said to everyone.

One by one, the students filed into the classroom where there was a stack of test booklets set up on a desk next to Lydia's mother, who was assisting. The proctor then brought out an ink pad where he told the students to please make a print to sign in. Scott, Kira and Malia went to make their thumb prints but Stiles narrowed his eyes.

"Hey, is this new?" he asked. He had asked Lydia what to expect from when she took the PSAT and she hadn't mentioned this.

The proctor looked at him blankly. "Yes. A new method of registration. Designed to help prevent identity and testing errors."

"Huh," Stiles said as he nodded blankly at him.

Ms. Martin cleared her throat. "Stiles, you're holding up the line," she whispered loudly to him.

He then looked over and saw that the students next to him standing in wait, some of them giving him a look for holding them up when they were already nerve wrecked. He then dipped his finger into the ink and made his print before taking a booklet from Ms. Martin. He then gave her his cell phone to be placed in a bin before moving to sit behind Malia. He then moved to give the booklet a quick look through.

"Please do not open your test booklets until instructed to do so," the proctor announced as the last student made their print. That made Stiles close it quickly. "This test will be 2 hours and 10 minutes. There will be two critical 25 minute reading sections. Two 25 minute math sections. And an essay writing portion that will last 30 minutes." He then looked over at Ms. Martin. "There are supposed to be two teachers monitoring this exam."

She stiffened. "Uh, I know. It's Coach. He's not exactly, punctual." Natalie reached for her phone. "Let me just try him again." She then grabbed her phone to try and call for him out in the hall. She started to look for his information when her eyes fell on the door on Coach's office. She sighed as she decided to check there first. She opened the door and peeked inside and found that Coach Finstock seemed to be passed out at his desk. "Bobby," she said gently to him as she moved to try and stir him awake. He turned his head and was barely able to look at her. He was foaming a little at the mouth as his head started to wobble back for the desk. "Oh Bobby, 15 years sober and you fall off the wagon at school?" Coach's head kept trying to drop. "Okay, Coach look at me. It's Natalie."

"Nat-" Coach started but couldn't finish as he seemed to pass out.

She sighed. "I'll bring you coffee during one of the breaks," she said giving up. "15 years Bobby." At that, she left him to try and sleep it off while she went back to the classroom. "I can't find him," she told the test proctor. At that, Malia and Stiles shared a small look before they looked back over at Scott who had a small gleam in his eyes. The three of them had heard the whole thing and knew Lydia's mom was lying. "Uh, Mr. Yukimura is upstairs grading papers. You want me to go and get him."

He shook his head. "We have to start. We could ask for his assistance during the first break." At that, all the students in the room tensed up. Some started to take deep breaths while others began to twirl their pencils nervously. The proctor then went and started his stopwatch. "You may now open your test booklets and begin." The students then began to start their tests and Natalie moved over to the side to calmly begin overseeing them. As for the proctor, his eyes scanned the figures of Kira, Malia, Scott and Stiles. He was a little disappointed that Lydia Martin wouldn't be there as well but he would still be ending the day with 40 million dollars.

As the man's eyes landed on Stiles, he felt something stir in his spine for a moment as he was flipping through the booklet. Stiles froze in what he was doing and then lifted his head. He saw that the test proctor was scanning the students and Lydia's mom was starting to pace around the room. All the other students were focused on the papers in front of them. He could've sworn he just got a nasty vibe a moment ago. But as his eyes scanned the room and saw everyone with their attention focused elsewhere, Stiles shrugged and chalked it up to still being on edge from the Bomber's attack. Maybe he should follow Scott's advice to Liam and take a long rest after this test was over. When his eyes went back to his test paper, the proctor let his eyes fall back on him. He could see that particular wolf, while out on his normal routine, was still somewhat vigilant even if he had taken out the Bomber. He would have to stay vigilant himself to avoid giving himself away.

* * *

In the animal clinic, Satomi and Deaton were helping one of her betas inside. He was pale and there were visible black veins all over his skin. His lips were cracked and the inside of his mouth was black from drying and oozing black blood.

"How does it begin?" Deaton asked when they set him down at his table and looked at the claws on the guy's hand.

"A fever," Satomi started. "Then shifting becomes uncontrollable. Fangs, claws, even full unwarranted transformations." Deaton pushed the beta's lips back to see the fangs that he couldn't seem to make disappear. Satomi got more visibly upset and unsettled. "We moved into the woods when it began. Then it progressed faster and faster. They couldn't stand…but worse than that was this sudden blindness."

Deaton stiffened. "Total?" He then moved to check the beta's eyes.

"They couldn't see a thing. From there, they only had a few minutes left."

Deaton sighed as he stood up after checking the werewolf's eyes with a light. "I'm going to be honest Satomi. We have to get him to a hospital."

"That's, never been really been an option for our kind. Unless you know something I don't."

He shook his head. "Not something. But someone."

* * *

As the test hit its half hour mark, Malia was starting to feel the weight of the situation come down on her. She was feeling quite agitated and it didn't help that she could smell all the anxiety and tension of all the students around her, which started to make her feel hotter. She took off her jacket and let her eyes take in her friends. She saw Kira rubbing at her forehead as she was circling her answers. Scott was stiff as he was reading his test and Malia could see him tapping his foot incessantly. She then saw that Stiles had two pencils out and was mumbling to himself before he took one of them and put it in his mouth as he moved to circle in his next answer. Everyone was moving their pencils, filling in their answers and Malia's anxiety shot up as she just moved to try and fill out the answer to her next question. But she jumped when she heard a loud sound behind her. All the students jumped as they looked back and saw a girl had collapsed.

"Sydney," Natalie Martin cried out as she ran to her. "Are you alright?"

She helped the girl get back to her feet and she shook her head. "I'm okay," she breathed out. "I just…got kind of dizzy."

Natalie narrowed her eyes as she grabbed her wrist. "Sydney, how long have you had this?" Her arm had some red swelling on it, like a deep rash.

Sydney's eyes widened at it. "I don't know."

"Ms. Martin, do I need to stop the test?" the test proctor asked her.

Suddenly, Natalie had a terrifying thought. "No, it's fine." She then helped Sydney back to her seat and went to grab her phone. "Everything's fine," she told the students. She then lowered her voice to speak to the proctor. "No one leaves the room," she told him before she left herself.

Scott and Stiles narrowed their eyes. Stiles went to catch Malia's worried eyes while Scott looked over at Sydney's swollen wrist.

Natalie quickly made her way back to Coach's office to find that he was the same as she had left him. She grabbed a tissue and took a look at his wrist. There was nothing there. No rash. But when she checked under his shirt, she saw that his back was covered in red splotches. She then jumped back in shock and ran out of the office. Her eyes widened when she saw some students coming in from playing out in the courtyard. She quickly ran to them and told them to go back outside and shut the doors. Her screaming drew out the students from the test including Scott and Stiles. She told them all to go back inside the classroom. While most of the students started to file back inside, Scott and Stiles stood there and kept their eyes on her. She told them both to go back inside as everything was fine. The two of them shared a look before they headed back inside the classroom. Natalie then went and asked to be connected to the CDC. Scott and Stiles stiffened when they heard her call for them. Stiles looked over and saw that Malia was confused while Scott saw that Kira was looking worried.

* * *

At the hospital, Melissa left the elevator on the floor where Braeden's room was. She quickly but calmly made her way to the room where she found that Derek was still watching over her. She moved passed him to her IV container and pulled out a syringe.

"What's that?" Derek asked as he caught sight of it.

"Naloxone," she said as she injected it. "We need to wake her up."

"I thought you said that she needed to rest."

"That was before I just found out that the CDC put the high school under quarantine with Scott and Stiles still in there." The next moment, Braeden gasped as she shot up, conscious again. Melissa quickly put a calming arm to her. "Braeden, look at me. You were shot but you're in the hospital now and you're fine. Do you understand?" Braeden settled herself and nodded after sharing a small look with Derek. "Good," Melissa sighed. "Okay, last night you were in the woods and you came across another pack, do you know what happened to them?"

"Uh, I told you they were poisoned," said Derek.

But Braeden shook her head. "No," she said in a cracking voice. "No, they were infected. It was a virus designed to kill werewolves. And it did. It killed them all."

At that, all the air escaped Melissa's lungs. "Oh my god."

"What?"

"Deaton. He just called me. He said that someone named Satomi just brought in one of her werewolves to his clinic that was sick. They're coming here now with him."

"Another assassin," Derek grumbled.

Braeden sighed. "And if the school is under quarantine, that has to mean that whoever infected Satomi's pack released the virus on the students there to get to Scott and the others."

"But there are dozens of kids there," Melissa choked out. "He's infecting innocent people just to try and get to them."

"It doesn't matter. Scott and his friends are worth the most on the list. Millions. This guy won't care about collateral damage."

Melissa quickly stepped over to Braeden. "Did you see who it was? The assassin that shot you? The Sheriff is there right now. He could find him." She then went to pull out her phone.

But Braeden shook her head. "No. He snuck up on me."

Derek narrowed his eyes. "It looks like they're on their own," he mumbled.

* * *

Within an hour, the entire school was turned into a madhouse. The parking lot was full of medical personal in hazmat suits and there were sealing up the school in a plastic bubble. The school and all those inside were in complete quarantine. They had taken Coach, as well as Sydney, and put them into a makeshift hospital in the gym. Sheriff Noah Stilinski went and made his way over to medical officer in charge.

"Excuse me, do you want to tell me what we're dealing with here?" he asked, trying to keep his calm.

"Hopefully a false alarm," she told him. "The details provided have concerned us and the local health authorities enough to order a quarantine. We're going to need your help ensuring that no one gets in or out of the school."

"My son is in there," he told her.

She sighed. "Is this going to be a conflict for you?"

"Conflict? No. Stressful? Yeah. Alright, what happens now?"

"The medical teams are already inside, isolating the sick and seeing what exactly it is we're dealing with. Once we find out what contagion seems to be in there, we could act accordingly. For now, just wait until we have further instructions."

Noah nodded and the officer left him to go and conduct her business. His eyes fell on the school, completely sealed so that he couldn't even tell where the majority of the people inside even were. Last night, his son had been alone in the woods and he was too far to help him. Now, he was practically right next to him but he felt no closer than before. "Stiles," he said out to the building. "Uh…I don't know if you can hear me in there, but just hang on. I'll do my best to get you all out of there but just watch out for each other, okay?"

He was snapped out of it when he heard Parrish calling for him. "Sheriff," he said as he made his way to them. "We're starting to have some parents come in."

Noah found himself falling into his role as Sheriff. "Well just make sure that they all stay back and out of the CDC's way," he told him. "The sooner that they finish their work, the sooner those kids get out of there."

"Sir."

Parrish then left and Noah let out a heated sigh. He began to check around for someone to give him an update when he felt his phone ringing. It was Melissa.

* * *

Scott had help carrying Sydney into medical area and he was followed in by Lydia's mom. "What do we do now?" he asked her.

"We isolate the sick and we wait for further instructions," she told him. "If we're wrong, they'll be out of here pretty quickly and I'm the crazy biology teacher that panicked over nothing," she said, before leaving the two with a small smile.

Scott looked over and saw that both of Sydney's arms were now red and splotchy. As she looked at her marks, she was so anxious that Scott could easily smell it. "Hey," Scott said making her take her eyes off them. "You're going to be okay."

She shook her head. "It's not that. The PSAT is the qualifying test for the national merit scholarship. My parents can't afford to send me to college without it."

Scott's face fell a bit but he quickly shot her a small smile. "I'm sure they'll let you take it again."

Scott then left to head back to the others. As he walked off, he couldn't help but think. He had meant what he said to his friends. He wanted to go to a good college and he needed good grades to be accepted. But even if he was accepted, he couldn't go as he didn't have the money. His mom was already struggling with all the bills, paying for college was going to be next to impossible. His mind had a mental flash of the big bag of cash that was under his bed. Half a million dollars and no one but he and Stiles knew it was even there. Scott stopped as he suddenly heard a familiar voice echo in his ears. It was the Sheriff, and Scott heard him try and give out a message to Stiles. Scott then let out a deep breath as he wiped some sweat that was starting to gather at his brow.

In the classroom, some of the students were milling around as they tried to relax and not think about the situation that they were in. Stiles, Malia and Kira were off in a corner of the room. Stiles eyes were out of focus as he was staring out of the window.

"You okay?" Malia asked him. But Stiles kept staring out and barely registered her. Malia went and gave his shoulder a small tug. "Stiles."

He blinked and shook his head. "Oh, sorry. I was just trying to listen out for anything."

"You get anything?" Kira asked him.

Stiles narrowed his eyes a bit. "Uh, I can hear some people talking about uh…well, some of it is kind of beyond me." Stiles started blinking.

"What is it?" Malia asked.

Stiles went to rub at his left temple. "Nothing. Uh, I guess I'm just tired. I didn't really sleep well last night." He noticed the girls sharing a look. No doubt they understood why. "There's just so many people and noises all going on at once. It's kind of hard to sift through all of it right now. But…I think I just heard one of them say smallpox."

Kira's eyes widened. "Smallpox? Is that what they think? Do you really think that could be what is affecting Sydney and Coach?"

"Unlikely," the proctor said to them, making the three turn to face him. "Smallpox was eradicated worldwide in 1979. We've only managed to completely eradicate two viruses in history. The other was Rinderpest. It killed cows."

Stiles rose his eyes at him. "So, we should be comforted by that?"

"Unless it's something worse," he said back to him.

Malia leaned in closer to him. "Well whatever is happening, they're taking it pretty seriously. There's so many cars and trucks outside." Stiles nodded as rubbed where he was feeling a small itch. Malia's head shot up. "I just heard your dad. He just said your name."

"He did?" Stiles tried to listen for his father but shook his head. "There's just too much out there. I can't hear him." He then got up and went for the bin holding everyone's phone. "I better call him." He reached in and quickly found his phone.

"Don't bother," the proctor told him. "They would've shut off any means of outside communication by now. No cell service, no wi-fi, no starting a panic."

He went and saw that the man was right. His phone wasn't getting a signal so they must be jamming them. "I think they're a little late there." Stiles then narrowed his eyes at him. "You seem to be handling this all well enough."

The man turned his head to the other students in the room. "When you are the leading authority figure in a situation like this, you have to often shelf your own emotions and personal concerns. You need to put up a calm and firm front if you hope to maintain order and control. People often look to where there is stability for comfort and assurance. Instability breeds chaos." He then went and picked up one of his forms and started to busy himself with reading it. He could sense the boy was looking at him for a moment before he turned away. It seemed that this one was already feeling something was amiss, but he also noticed that he seemed physically on edge as well with how he was subconsciously rubbing at his head again. Hopefully, his virus would step in and stop this from going into a problem.

* * *

Lydia was at her lakehouse, silently musing over Meredith's belongings. Meredith didn't have any family left and the logs showed that Lydia was the only visitor that Meredith ever got during her stay at Eichen so Parrish arranged for her things to be sent to her. She was sitting in front of the record player where she had heard the clues that sent her the first Cypher Key. The Deadpool was fully unlocked so they knew who was in danger now, but they didn't know who would be next to be targeted. Only last night were both Stiles and Liam nearly killed by assassins and Lydia had gotten a call from Malia telling her that she and Derek had found a pack of werewolves poisoned and killed in the woods and Braeden had been shot. These things all happened so unexpectedly and without warning. She needed to find out who was in danger and from what to make sure they didn't lose anyone else.

She reached into Meredith's box and pulled out what seemed to be a bouquet of dried up roses and there was also a small stuffed bear. She then went and started the player. "Alright Meredith, I'm not sure how to do this. I'm not psychic, and apparently not much of a banshee either," she said with a pitiful sigh. "But I'm trying to help my friends. I don't know if you could hear me…but I'm supposed to ask you…if I have this thing, it's got to work some of the time," she almost cried. "It's got to help someone." She stared at the spinning record for a moment before she took a deep breath. "Maybe, what I wanted to say was…I'm sorry. I wish I could've helped you." Meredith had gone out of her way to help them, help her, even when it wasn't easy on her. And Lydia had been so hard on her and actually drove her to hang herself. Lydia knew that she was no one's saint before all this came into her life. She had been quite the selfish and superficial person, but, never before had she felt so awful and ashamed of herself than right now. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

She then shut the record off. She moved to gather up everything when she suddenly froze. She picked up a photo of Meredith as she was standing in front of a wall. She lowered the picture to see that it was the same wall that she was in front of now. Meredith had been here.

* * *

Natalie Martin was trying to calm herself as she wandered the halls to relieve her pent up nerves. She then saw Scott moving into the locker room, a little hunched over. She walked over and knocked.

"Scott?" she cried out through the door. "Are you alright in there?"

Scott was over one of the sinks, letting some water hit his face as he tried to cool himself down. He felt like he was burning up from the inside. After he shut the water off, he took some deep breaths and settle himself. But, when he lifted his head and looked up at the mirror, he saw that his eyes were glowing red. He tried to blink them away, but it was not going away.

Natalie was still knocking on the door when Mr. Yukimura was passing by and heard her call Scott's name. "Is something wrong Natalie?" he asked her.

"Uh, it's Scott. I think something might be wrong?"

He narrowed his eyes. "Okay. I'll go in and see if there's anything wrong. You should go and check on the other students."

Mr. Yukimura came into the locker room and quietly began looking for Scott until he found him, leaning against the locker. He was breathing hard and was trying hard to push back his shift that now included his fangs.

"Get Stiles," he breathed out.

* * *

Soon, the CDC started to request blood samples from all the students that didn't seem to be showing any symptoms to test. Kira and Malia were on the line while Stiles left to see if there was some way to contact his father.

"Kira," Malia said suddenly. "Do you ever get the feeling that Scott and Stiles aren't telling you everything?"

Kira's face widened. "What do you mean?"

"Like they hide stuff?"

"Uh…I think if they did then they probably have a pretty good reason," she said nervously.

Malia just sighed and rolled her eyes. She was done being subtle. "Do you know what they're hiding under Scott's bed?" she said bluntly as the image of Scott kicking something in there as soon as she had gone in there came to mind. "And please don't tell me that it's nothing."

"What? No, I've never been under Scott's bed. Or in it, just on it," she started sputtering out quickly. "Wearing clothes." That made Malia just stare at her.

"Kira Yukimura," a doctor in a hazmat suit called out. Kira turned and went to her as the woman picked up a syringe. "You doing alright Kira?" She nodded as she kept her eyes on the needle. The woman smiled. "I don't like needles either. Don't worry, it'll be fast." She then went to get some blood when it sparked the moment it hit Kira's skin. The doctor dropped the syringe in shock just before she was being helped out by the other doctors.

"Kira," Malia whispered as she pulled them away from everyone.

The doctor was taken out, where she was ambushed by other doctors and the Sheriff.

"What happened Doctor?" he asked.

She shook her head as she looked at the burn mark on her suit. "I don't know. It must've been static electricity."

"Did it breach the interior layer?" one of the doctors asked.

"No, it just burned the top layer."

They were then joined by Agent McCall. "Any idea of what we're dealing with yet? My son is in there?"

"Your son and his son," she said pointing to the Sheriff. "Great, you could debrief each other." She then left with the other doctors to leave the two men alone.

Rafael looked over to Noah with a glare. "Alright Stilinski, what the hell is going on?"

"Believe me, I wish I knew," he told him.

"Oh, I think you know quite a lot." Rafael then brought out his phone and pulled up a video. He then showed the Sheriff the video file of Stiles being blown off his feet from the force of an exploding car and then get back up, little worse for wear. "You want to tell me what's going on here now?"

Noah's jaw stiffened. "Where did you get that?"

But Rafael shook his head. "No, I'm the one who asks the questions now. You could answer them here, or I could bring you, and Melissa, to answer them back at the station."

Noah let out a heated sigh. This wasn't the time and place for something like this, especially if what Melissa had told him over the phone was true. "Look, it's a long story and I can't explain all of it now myself because you honestly wouldn't believe me if I did. But right now…what I can tell you is that it looks like the Orphans and that Bomber weren't the only professional killers in Beacon Hills."

Rafael stiffened. "What do these people want? Why are they even here? There's nothing special to draw those kind of people to this town."

"Sadly…there is." Noah then looked over at the school building. "And four of them are in there."

Rafael went to give the school a forlorn look himself. "Scott," he mumbled.

* * *

Mr. Yukimura found Stiles leaning his back against a wall, taking deep breaths as he stared out the window. "Stiles?" he said as looked at him. Stiles looked back at him and he saw that the young man was sweating quite a bit and was rubbing at his arm. "I think we better go and find Kira and Malia. There's something you three need to see."

The two of them then went off and they ran into Malia and Kira, as they were huddled in a corner stairwell. Malia was keeping her hands folded together, out of sight. When she saw them, she brought them out to show that her claws were out. Mr. Yukimura brought them all to the locker room where they saw that Scott's eyes were glowing on and off as he tried to blink and make it stop.

"It's still happening," Kira's father told him.

Malia was shaking her hands. "I can't make them go away," she said holding up her clawed hands.

Stiles was shaking his head. "Guys, I can't shift." He brought his hands down but saw they were clawless. He then narrowed his eyes. "Anything?" he asked, seeing if his eyes were glowing.

"No," Mr. Yukimura said with a shake of his hand.

"Don't tell me you lost your powers again?" Malia slurred out.

"No," Stiles grunted. "I still hear and smell like normal. Ahh," He hissed as he went to rub at his head. "I have this annoying headache hitting me like every other five seconds."

"Obviously the virus is affecting you three in a way different from a normal human being," Mr. Yukimura mused.

"We have to stay out of sight," Stiles breathed heatedly. "Be quarantined from the quarantine."

"But where?" Kira asked. "What if you all get violent, like on a full moon?"

"We shouldn't stay in here then," said Scott. "Not in a locker room."

"A classroom is not going to be strong enough to hold us," Malia put in.

"What about the basement," Kira suggested.

But Scott shook his head. "Too many ways out. We need somewhere that no one could find us."

Stiles' eyes widened. "The vault," he breathed. "The Hale Vault."

Scott lifted his head and nodded. "The Hales always have an escape route, like their house," he said remembering the tunnel that Kate had kept Derek in. "There has to be another way in."

They then went into Coach's office and pulled out some blueprints for the school. Malia was starting to feel herself burning up and Scott was trying to hold himself up by the desk.

"Okay," Stiles said as he pointed at the front. "This is where the school sign is. So the vault has to be around here."

"I suppose that if there is a second entrance it would probably be accessible from the basement," mused Mr. Yukimura.

"Then it's probably around here in this hallway," Stiles said as he slid his finger down a passage. But as he moved he slipped but Mr. Yukimura caught him before he fell over. Stiles went to rub at his arm again but his sleeve pulled back to reveal that he had a deep rash that seemed worse than the one that was on Sydney.

"It's progressing," Mr. Yukimura said as he helped him up. He then took in how Scott and Malia were looking now. Malia was starting to breathe a bit abnormally and was rubbing herself like Stiles was and Scott's face was starting to pale and the skin around his eyes was swelling. "You're all getting sicker."

Kira shook her head. "I don't feel sick."

"I think it's effecting you differently. Neurologically." Her father then pulled out a paper. "I found your test answer sheet in a pile with the others."

They looked and saw that Kira's answers were all circled outside the actual bubbles. It was as if she had been seeing double. Kira breath got locked inside as her father looked over at her with fear and concern. Stiles and Malia shared a small, tired look with Scott.

"You better come with us," Scott slurred out.


	14. Weaponized part 2

Chapter 14: Weaponized part 2

The sun was setting as Liam slowly made his way through the chaos at the school. He had been sitting at home, staring off with a million thoughts racing through his mind, when Mason had called him and told him that he had heard something was happening at school. Liam remembered that Scott and the others were all heading here for their PSAT's and began running over before Mason could finish. His eyes widened at all the police and CDC personnel running around. There were parents and other curious people that were all being kept back by some barricades.

"What's going on?" he asked a parent next to him.

"I don't know. They say that people are getting sick with some kind of plague. The whole building's locked down."

Liam's breath fell out of his lungs. "What about the people inside?" he asked.

"They're not saying anything."

Liam then began to move passed everyone and started to try and crawl under the barricade but he was quickly intercepted by Parrish.

"Whoa, whoa. You have to stay back."

Liam tried to see around him. "I have to get in there."

"Liam!" Liam and Parrish looked over to see that the Sheriff was moving over to them. "I got this one Parrish."

Parrish stood down and Liam ran over to Stiles' father. "Sheriff, what's going on?"

"Come with me." He pulled Liam away for some private words. "You shouldn't be here Liam," he whispered to him as he led him off.

"But Scott, Stiles, Malia and Kira are in there," Liam argued.

But Sheriff Stilinski held his hand to stop him. "Yeah, I know," he said stiffly. "Believe me Liam, I understand that you want to go in there and help them but we can't. Especially not you."

"Why?"

"Liam, what I'm about to tell you is breaking more than a few rules but I think this case more than warrants an exception. Officially, the school is under quarantine because of a virus."

"And unofficially?" Liam asked.

"The people are falling ill in there because someone is using a viral weapon. One specifically for werewolves."

Liam's face paled as he stiffened a bit. "You don't mean-"

The Sheriff nodded. "An assassin hoping to cash in on the Deadpool. You shouldn't get to the school Liam, we can't have you getting infected too."

"Scott, Stiles, the girls, are they-?"

He shook his head. "I don't know," he sighed out. "They're not letting anyone but CDC personnel in and all communications have cut off so I can't even call to check." But then his eyes widened. "Liam, do you think can hear inside for them?"

"You mean, listen for their voices?"

He nodded. "Stiles and Scott do it all the time."

"I don't know." Liam hadn't learned how to do that yet. He looked to the school and tried to let his hearing pick up their voices, but all he heard were the loud voices of all the people around them talking, loud banging noises of people moving equipment around or shutting doors. It was all blended together and was barely making sense to him. And they were getting louder and irritating to his ears. Liam's scrunched his eyes shut and shook his head to block it out. "No," he gasped out as moved to cover his ears.

"You don't hear them?"

"I can't, I hear everything. There's just so much."

The Sheriff held his hand to him. "Okay, enough Liam. Stop, I don't want you to hurt yourself."

Liam could hear the disappointment in his tone. "I'm sorry," he apologized.

"It's not your fault," the man sighed.

"I just wish I could help. Like they helped me." Liam sighed but looked up when he felt the man put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"For now, being here is enough. Now, go and stay behind the barricade. If anything turns up, I'll come and find you, okay?"

"Okay." Liam nodded before he turned and made his way over to where the people were still waiting.

* * *

Scott, Stiles, Kira and Malia were making their way down the stairs for the basement while Mr. Yukimura went to help with keeping all the students calm. They got to the area that was on the blueprint and started to check the walls. They ran their hands along bricks, and knocked their knuckles against sheetrock for any indication for an entrance into the vault. Stiles was looking behind a shelf when he moved a box over and saw a carving in the wall.

"Guys," he called out to them. "Over here." They moved the shelf over and they saw that there was a light engraving of a seal with a triskelion in the center. Right in the middle of the three spirals was a contraption with holes. "It's just like the entrance outside. It only opens with claws. Anyone's claws, right?" he asked as he looked over at Scott.

Scott stiffened. No, it wasn't anyone's claws. It would only open with claws from someone in the Hale family. That was why Kate had to use Derek to bring her there. And, right now, there was only one Hale with them. Stiles narrowed his eyes at him and Scott sighed but gave a subtle nod.

"Um," Scott said before he and Stiles looked over at Malia. "Malia, can you try?"

"Why me?" she asked.

Scott held up his hand. "I don't have control."

Stiles nodded. "Yeah, me neither, see?" he said bringing his hands out to show that he still couldn't shift at will.

She nodded. "Okay." The two of them sighed in relief. "But first, tell me what you've been hiding from me."

"What?" Stiles mumbled nervously as he quickly tensed up.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "I know you think that you're trying to protect me, but I can handle it." Scott and Stiles tried to avoid looking at one another and give anything away. Malia just shook her head and sighed at them. "I know I'm on the list."

That made the two of them, and Kira, sigh in some relief. Scott lightly tapped Stiles' shoulder and he decided to run with it.

He nodded. "Yes," Stiles breathed out.

Malia pulled back a bit. "So, how much?"

"How much what?" Stiles asked her.

"How much am I worth?"

"Four million," Scott answered.

Malia then froze and diverted her eyes to the ground.

"Are you okay?" Stiles asked as he took a concerned step towards her.

Malia was silent for a second before she looked back up at him and nodded. "Yeah," she said a little brightly. "Scott's worth 20 million, Lydia is 15, you're worth 10, and Kira's 6. Liam, he's on the list, right?" Stiles nodded. "How much is he?"

"Five million," Stiles told her.

"Great. Then that means they'll go after all of you guys before me."

Kira and Scott just stared after her as she made her way to the wall.

Stiles nodded and scratched the back of his head. He guessed that was a positive spin to put on something so grim. He turned and looked over to see that the others were now looking at him, with speechless looks on them. He shrugged. "It's progress," Stiles calmly told them. "That's progress."

Malia brought out her claws and inserted them in the holes. She then began to turn it and they started to hear the sound of something clicking inside the wall. Once Malia was done turning it, the lock was pushed inside and the wall slid open. Inside was the Hale Vault as they had remembered seeing it. After the four of them stepped inside, the wall closed behind them.

* * *

Melissa met with Deaton and Satomi as they brought her beta into the hospital. Melissa cringed at the sight of the infected werewolf. She didn't want to imagine that this is what Scott and Stiles were looking like right now.

"This isn't what's happening at the school, is it?" she asked them.

Deaton narrowed his eyes in confusion. "The school? It's Saturday."

"They're taking the PSAT's."

Deaton widened his eyes as it seemed like the situation was more grim then he realized. The beta on the stretcher then started to have more blackened blood flood from his mouth.

"I think we need to hurry," Satomi told them.

They then pushed the stretcher into the elevator to try and get him to the room where Derek was waiting for them. Melissa started to frantically push the button to try and get the elevator moving faster. Behind her, she didn't see that the beta was shaking even more harshly before his body went still. But she did hear his last big gasp of air, which made her own muscles relax. She looked back to see that Satomi was now silently crying over the body of her dead beta.

As for Melissa, she tried not to imagine her son or Stiles looking like this, with their mouths blackened and their eyes staring blankly up at her. She didn't think she could handle that.

* * *

Scott was just sitting against a shelf of the vault while Kira was pacing herself in a corner of the room. Scott was trying to not think of what was going on, while Kira wanted to keep herself distracted by looking through all the contents on the shelves so as not go into a panic. Malia was laying on the ground with her head planted firmly on Stiles' lap as she tried to take a small nap. He was sitting with her, his ears picking through the muffling sounds of the people dealing with the quarantine above. After about 15 minutes of it, he blocked it out.

Stiles moved to stroke the hair around Malia's resting face. "You know, there is where it started," he said all of a sudden. He pointed over to the safe. "That's where the money was. 117 Million in bearer bonds."

Kira was looking at a jar that seemed filled with dried mushrooms. "How do you even change bearer bonds into cash?" she asked as she picked it up to get a better look at them.

Stiles shook his head. "The bank, I guess. And it's all just been sitting here the whole time, collecting dust," he said a little bitterly. "You know bearer bonds are practically extinct?" Stiles explained.

Kira put the jar down and went to sit with Scott. "Why does that matter?"

"Well, do you know how many problems that money could solve?"

"For you?" she asked.

"Me and my dad." His eyes fell a bit. "The Eichen House and the MRI, those are crushing him. He's been trying to hide it from me, act like everything's okay, but I can smell his worry getting stronger every time he gets the mail or a notifying phone call," he all but mumbled.

Scott raised his head a bit. He then started speaking in a bit of a cracked voice. "Mom does this thing. She writes down all the items of our budget, how much they cost, then she adds it all up and figures out when we lose the house."

Stiles rose his eyes back up to meet Scott's. The bag filled with money that was under Scott's bed coming back to both of them.

* * *

The school was now being lit up with giant spotlights as night had completely fallen but the quarantine was still in full force. Liam was resting by a tree as he was trying his hardest not to panic. Someone had only tried to kill him just yesterday but Stiles and Malia helped to save him and Scott had been fighting to look for him. And now, someone was trying to kill them and Kira right now. He was right there, but he could do nothing to help them.

"Liam?"

He turned around and saw that Lydia was running over to him. "Lydia? You're here."

"I just heard. Where can I find the Sheriff?" she asked as she took the mad scene of the quarantine in.

"Over there." He grabbed her hand and moved her over to where Stiles' dad had said he would be.

Noah Stilinski and Rafael McCall were watching the entrance where the CDC officers with hazmat suits were walking in and out.

"Why do you think another assassin is responsible?" Rafael asked him all of a sudden.

Noah gave him a side look and saw that Rafael was staring at him with calculating eyes, sizing him and his answer up. "Because Scott, Stiles, Kira and Malia are all in there. A lot of people are after them."

"Why? What possible reason could people like the Orphans or that Bomber be after them. They're just kids." He then remembered all the strange events of the last year and the confusion he had when he first came to town. "Does this have anything to do with our sons being connected to all of those strange animal attacks and murder cases? What, did they do something?"

"No. They didn't do anything," he said resolutely. "But it's not about who they are. They're being targeted because of what they are."

"What they are?" Rafael repeated. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

But the Sheriff didn't answer as someone started yelling.

"Sheriff!" they heard a girl cry out. "Sheriff!"

They turned around in time to see Liam leading Lydia over but a deputy was moving to stop them.

"Wait, I know this girl!" Noah cried out to them. "Let her and the boy through."

The deputy sighed but stepped aside and allowed Lydia and Liam to walk pass him. They got to the Sheriff and he pulled them aside. Rafael narrowed his eyes at that. From how Stilinski just acted, it had seemed as if help had just arrived.

"I rushed over as soon as I heard," Lydia told him.

"Thank you for coming." Noah then looked over at the school before looking back at the girl. "Lydia, I know I'm still kind of new to all of this, but I have to ask, are you picking up anything?"

"You mean if I'm feeling as if anyone is going to die?" She stared at the building with a small far off look. "Yes," she said in a small voice. "And it's not just a feeling."

Liam tensed up while Noah clenched his hand at his side. They had to get Scott, Stiles, Kira and Malia out of there. And fast. As for Rafael, he knew that Lydia was another piece to this ever confusing puzzle, and it looks as if there was a new one to add. Liam Dunbar, the boy that he remembered seeing around his son after they had caught Violet at the school. How did they all fit into this?

* * *

Malia had woken up and Kira moved to sit with her while the guys were leaning against the entrance into the basement.

Stiles narrowed his eyes as his ears listened to the commotion going in in the school. "Scott, something's up."

"What is it?"

"They're saying that no new people seem to be coming down with the disease."

"So what, it stopped spreading?"

"I don't know. This is so strange." His eyes started darting around as he kept sifting through the voices. "Kira's dad is talking about us," Stiles mumbled.

Scott searched through the voices and sounds until he locked in on Kira's dad. "Yeah. Someone is asking about us. They're all starting to look for us. Yukimura is trying to stall them but that's not going to work for long. One of us has to go up there." He then looked over to where the girls were sitting together. Malia seemed to be getting worse. She was sweating even harder and it didn't seem like she could get up. Scott turned to look at Stiles who was getting more worried and scared for her by the second. "We need to tell her the truth about Peter," he told him. Stiles turned to look back at him, his eyes hardening. "She's going to see the rest of the Deadpool eventually," he argued.

But Stiles stepped over to him. "Try and remember that Peter is the one name missing from that list. Which either makes him incredibly lucky or the Benefactor. Everyone else, including me and Liam, who wasn't even a werewolf when this started, gets put on that list but the Benefactor misses one of the guys he stole the money from in the first place? Especially when he got Derek. Besides, once Malia finds out about him, you know she'll go to him. Okay, we let him walk around, doing whatever he wants, like nothing ever happened. He acts like he's one of the good guys but he isn't."

"Peter helped us to save you, remember?" Scott tried to argue.

But Stiles wouldn't have it. "Yeah, but he only did that because he wanted to know about Malia, who knows what he's going to do now that he does."

"He's known about her for weeks." Scott remembered when he had introduced them. Peter had been shocked to actually meet her but had been on his best behavior, (well what qualifies for him as his best behavior). "He hasn't done or said anything."

"Everything he does is for a reason," Stiles hissed. "What if the reason that he hasn't said anything is because he's waiting for Malia to come to the truth on her own. Or for one of us to tell her and she decides to go to him and he could get into her head. That's what he did to Derek. That's what he wanted to do to me and tried to do to you." Scott sighed while Stiles kept baring on him. "Scott, we can't trust him. If you really believed we could, then why haven't you told him about the money yet?"

Scott shook his head. "I…I don't know."

"I think you do," Stiles mumbled. "Scott, if you really want to keep it, then keep it. If you want to give it back to Peter, then give it back to him. But decide on your own. It wasn't cool for you to drag me in and try and use me like that."

Scott turned to look up at Stiles' hurt face. He was about to say something but he started to wobble a bit. Stiles rushed over to keep him from falling down. Scott's eyes were blinking and everything was getting a bit blurred. Stiles' nose twitched as he smelled fresh blood. Scott then raised his hand to show that blood was leaking right out of his fingernails.

"Wha-" Scott mumbled as his legs started to fall under his under his own weight.

"Whoa," Stiles said as he tried to steady him. "Kira," he called out.

Kira moved from where she had been sitting with Malia and helped Stiles move Scott to sit at the wall. Her eyes stuck on the blood oozing from her boyfriend's fingers. "This isn't good, is it?"

"Not one bit," Stiles muttered. He wiped at his forehead which had started to sweat a bit more and his breathing was a little deeper now.

"What about you?" Kira asked him.

Stiles checked his own fingers and tested himself by walking a few paces. "I can still walk and I'm not bleeding. I think it's hitting me a bit slower."

"Or maybe it's because it looked like you were the last of us who got infected?" Kira put in.

Stiles shrugged. "Maybe. I just wish I knew how we got infected." He ran his hand to wipe at his face. "They're starting to ask for us back up there. One of us has to go and stall."

"You go," Kira told him. "I'll stay here with them."

Stiles nodded before he went over to Malia. She was now curled up into herself, like she was freezing in her sleep. He quickly went over and tried to stir her up. "Hey," he mumbled to her as she blinked a bit at him. "I'm only going to gone for a few, okay?"

"Where are you going?" she whispered to him.

"Whatever's happening, it seems to be hitting us harder than the people back up there. That means we're not just getting sick. It's another assassin." Malia then ran her hand along his clothed sleeve to his chest and when Stiles grasped it, he saw that it was cold. "Here," he said as he went to take his jacket off. He went and wrapped it around her and then fixed her hair a bit.

"You're coming back, right?" she asked.

He nodded. "Yeah. I'll never leave you behind."

Stiles then went and gave Malia a soft kiss at her forehead and then let his own forehead lean into hers. Their noses rubbed against each other as they stayed connected for a second before he started to get back up. As he pulled away she kept her grip on his hand before he, regretfully, separated from her. She then tightened her hold over Stiles' jacket as he moved and exited the vault through the door into the basement. He gave her one last look before it slid closed behind him.

Malia laid back down onto the ground where she started to fold in deeper on herself. She pulled on the jacket and heard something crinkle. She reached into a pocket and saw that there was a piece of paper inside.

Scott noticed her pull it out and realized that Stiles still had a copy of the Deadpool, the last piece that he had gotten from Lydia, with Malia's name on it. "Malia," he cried out to her. She started unfolding it to look at it and Scott was scared that she had just found out the truth, from a piece of paper instead of from them.

But Malia shook her head and stared up at him. "I can't see. I can't see anything!" she cried out in a panic.

Scott tried to reach out for her but saw that everything outside the reach of his hand was dimming. Everything was blurry and he looked down at his hand to see that it was fading before his very eyes. He blinked them and saw that there were spots of black forming everywhere. They were going blind!

* * *

Melissa had taken them all to an empty operating room where she and Deaton went to work, trying to analyze the beta's body. They had to find out how the virus worked so that they could come up with a way to cure and protect everyone else from it. They had to saw his head open to see what had happened to his brain. Satomi flinched when her beta's dead eyes were covered up with the skin of his own scalp.

Deaton looked inside and stiffened. "I think I know what this is," he told Melissa. She seemed relieved but Deaton was only more worried. "But, if I'm right then for Scott and the rest of the infected, it's not good. They're going to die without an antidote."

Back in Braeden's room, Derek was quietly watching her as she seemed to have fallen back asleep. Derek didn't even realize he was staring until Braeden cleared her throat and snapped him out of it. Braeden opened her eyes lightly to stare at him as he tried to not look like he had been doing that to her for a while now.

"What are you still doing here?" she asked as she adjusted herself a bit.

"Uh, protecting my investment," he told her. "I've got a lot of money riding out on you."

But they were interrupted with a knock on the door. They looked over in time to see Melissa walking in.

"Derek, I think there's someone here you've been trying to find."

She then stepped aside to allow Satomi into the room. She smiled as she laid eyes on Derek, who could just stare back, speechless.

"Derek," she said lightly to him. "My, you've grown."

"Satomi," he muttered back.

But Melissa quickly cut in. "I'm sorry. I know that you two would like to catch up but we need you to come with us. Deaton's found something."

They quickly took Derek over so he could see the body of the beta himself. As Derek looked at the body, he saw that it looked just like the other betas that he and Malia had run into in the woods that night.

"It's a variant of canine distemper," Deaton explained. "A few years ago, an outbreak in Yellowstone killed forty percent of the wolf population."

"What's it going to do to our wolf population?" Melissa hissed out.

"Well it's been altered to infect quite a bit faster."

"You mean it's been weaponized," said Derek.

Satomi turned to him. "It infected my whole pack."

"Everyone except for you," Deaton put in. "That's the real question. Did you not get infected, or are you immune?"

Satomi shrunk a little. "Personally, I'd rather face the barrel of a gun then a variant of smallpox."

"Well, it sounds like you're going to get plenty of chances," Melissa told her.

Satomi sighed a bit sadly before she turned to look at Derek again. She was staring and it caught Derek's attention. She quickly turned away. "Sorry," she said a little embarrassed. "I just noticed how much you remind me of Talia." That made him smile. "I used to visit her a lot. Do you remember me?"

"Uh, I remember the tea. You always brought that tea that smelled terrible."

She laughed a little. "I brought that tea as a gift. Your mother loved it."

"A friend of mine is making sure that my sister Cora drinks some of it every now and then."

"Oh, yes. I know your friend. I gave her the recipe for it a few years ago. She tells me she uses it most of the time. It would certainly go a good way with easing your sister's case," she said pointedly.

Derek could see from the way she said that and from the way she was eyeing him, that she was silently trying to tell him that she knew. She knew that Cora was pregnant. But, he could also see that Satomi was also trying to tell him that the secret would be safe with her.

But Deaton was taken aback. "What kind of tea was it?"

Everyone was surprised at his sudden question. And by the look of urgency on his face.

"What?" Satomi asked.

"The tea, the smell, what kind was it?"

"Reshi," she told him. "Wild purple reshi. It's very rare."

He smiled. "And it's also a powerful remedy for sickness. Satomi, you didn't get infected because you were inoculated."

Which would mean that it could be used to help treat this virus.

"Okay, okay, how rare is it?" Melissa quickly asked her. "Can we find it?"

Derek shook his head. "We don't have to. My mother kept some of it. It's in our vault."

* * *

Stiles was staggering up the stairs until he got back to the ground floor. He felt a pressure in his head and he went to rest it against the cool concrete wall opposite him and took a few deep breaths. After a moment, he pushed himself from it and started to move off to try and find Mr. Yukimura. He decided to check with where the sick were being laid and didn't find him but Ms. Martin. He approached her and her eyes widened when she took him in.

"Stiles? You're not looking so good. Maybe you should lie down."

But Stiles shook his head. "No, it's alright. Have you seen Mr. Yukimura?" he asked her quickly.

"Yeah, he's fine. He's helping the other students."

"Okay," he breathed. Stiles was about to head on over there when he stopped and noticed Coach on his gurney. He then took a second to go over all the people who had to be sent here and realized that Coach was different from all of them. "Is Coach the only adult that got sick?"

"As far as I know."

"Why is he the only one?" he mumbled.

Ms. Martin, seeing Stiles closer up, saw that he was sickly pale and was sweating quite heavily. The skin around his eyes were also starting to swell a bit. "Stiles," she said taking him by his arm and moving for an empty gurney. "Maybe you should lie down."

Stiles just pulled away from her. "No I'm good. I gotta go."

He didn't waste another moment and went to leave the room. If another assassin was behind this virus, then they had to infect them with it, and did something that had infected the other students as well. Coach got sick too which means he did something that the students also did but the other teachers didn't. He had to know what, and since he was found in his office, that was the best place to start.

He threw himself into the room and started to look around for anything that looked, smelled, felt, heard, hell even tasted out of the ordinary. But as he was looking in Coach's personal locker, Stiles felt something rising in his throat. He then fell on all fours down on the floor and was hacking out something. He opened his eyes to find that that he had spat up black blood. He had seen this before, when Derek had been poisoned. His body was trying to heal itself. Stiles started to cough a bit at the sight and he moved to wipe his mouth clean when his eyes widened. Underneath his hand, he could feel that his teeth had shifted. He put his other hand on top of the desk to pull himself up. He looked over to Coach's locker to see his reflection on the mirror of the door. He saw that not only were his fangs out but his eyes were also glowing blue. He tried to blink them away but he couldn't make them go away.

He went to move but the hand that was holding to the desk slipped on the papers that it was resting on and Stiles quickly managed to catch himself before his face fell on the desk. He looked at the papers he had tossed around and saw they were slips, and they were stamped. He saw that most were red until it looked like the ink had gone dry on one and the rest were black. He then noticed that there were black smudges on Coach's mug. His fingers must've gotten onto the ink pad. He then realized that the ink was the connection. Only the students got sick because they had dipped their hands into the ink for registering, just like Coach had. That was how they got infected. He then remembered how strange he thought it was that they had to take thumbprints to register themselves for this test and the proctor had said that it was new. The assassin was the test proctor.

"Son of a bitch," he coughed out.

"Yes, I was wondering how that idiot got sick." Stiles quickly turned around and found himself facing the Chemist who had a gun ready in his hand as he was fastening a silencer to it. "Where are your friends? After all, in order to receive my payment from the Benefactor, I need to have proof they're dead."

Stiles then remembered the tape that Scott had found with the money. "Visual confirmation." Stiles realized that this guy had been the one to start the look for them because he needed to get proof they were taken out so he could get paid.

The man pointed the silenced gun at him. "Exactly."

* * *

Noah was still standing outside the school, with Rafael next to him, when he started getting a call. Rafael saw that the ID belonged to Melissa a moment before the Sheriff quickly answered it.

"Yeah, anything?" he asked. "Uh huh," he nodded. Noah seemed to be listening with intensive precision before he sighed. "Okay, I'll try and let them know." He then hung up.

"What's happening?"

"I'll tell you later, I promise. But right now, I got to find a way into the school and let them know what Melissa found."

"They're not going to let you in," Rafael pointed out. His eyes then locked in one of the doctors being helped out of his suit and it being placed on a rack. "But I might have a way in."

"What? Tell me."

"No, I'm going in."

Noah glared at him. "McCall, we don't time for this."

"Time for what? What is going on Stilinski? I want to know. No more dodging or delaying."

"If we don't get to our sons and their friends soon, they will die. That's what's going on."

Rafael was glaring at Noah before he nodded. "Okay. Then tell me what Melissa said."

"She said to tell them that there is an antidote. It's on one of the shelves in the vault. Reshi mushrooms. They have to get to them."

Rafael was taken aback. "What in the hell is all that supposed to mean?"

"You don't have to understand it, just tell them. She also said that they don't have much time."

That made Rafael start moving. "Alright, I'm on my way."

"And McCall," he said making him stop. "Just tell them the message. Don't get in their way. They won't have much time."

Rafael watched him with narrowed eyes for a moment before he ran to go through with his plan to get inside the quarantine.

Lydia was standing with Liam over at a corner and she noticed that he letting his head bounce off the tree he was leaning against with a grim look on his face.

"You okay?" she asked him.

Liam kept his gaze down as he shook his head. "No. Last night, Scott and Stiles fought against assassins to try and save my life. Stiles, Malia, her father and Derek helped to pull me out of that well and got me to Scott's boss to be healed. I'd be dead now if it wasn't for them. And, all I'm doing right now is standing out here like a loser when they could be dying right now."

"I know," she said to him. "Believe me Liam, I get it."

"No, you don't." Liam finally looked up at her with softened eyes. "When the Sheriff went to you, you were able to at least do something for him. Me? I couldn't even listen out for their voices when the Sheriff asked me to. Everything was all so jumbled, confusing and loud."

"Liam, you've only been werewolf for not even two weeks. You just need to work at it."

"Scott says that I have to work on not using any of it. He said that I had to focus on not letting myself get angry. That I'm supposed to just keep myself calm and be normal. He wants me to try and stay out of this."

"And…what do you want to do?"

Liam sighed. "I can't be normal. I've tried doing that before. As soon as I learned about my IED, I tried to block it out and pretend I didn't have it but I couldn't. I can't pretend that I wasn't a freak with rage issues so how can I pretend that I'm not one with fangs and claws? I mean, how am I supposed to be normal with all of this?" he said gesturing to the chaos of the quarantine.

Lydia shook her head. "Scott's just trying to look out for you."

"But I can't just stay home and act like all of this isn't going on. And I want to learn."

"I know," she said softly. Lydia guessed that Scott was trying to live through Liam. That if he couldn't be a normal kid because of all this, then Liam at least could. But Lydia guessed it might be out of Liam's reach too, especially with his name in the Deadpool and worth 5 million dollars. He had to know how to use what he had and protect himself. At that, Lydia guessed that she should look into finding some way to protect herself too. After all, she was in the Deadpool also and worth 15 million. "Stiles," she said.

"What?"

"Ask Stiles to help you."

"Stiles?"

She nodded. "Yeah. I mean, if you really want to learn then he might be the best one to teach you. I mean, he was the one who helped teach Scott in the first place."

Liam's eyes widened. "He did?"

She nodded. "He's also been teaching Malia. He's even tried to help to teach me a few times. I'm sure that he could teach you how to be a werewolf."

"But, what if he can't teach me? Or if he doesn't want to help me?"

"Try asking him. What have you got to lose?" She then looked back at the school. "But let's just hope you get the chance to try."

* * *

Suddenly, Bobby Finstock started to cough and sit up in his gurney. His face seemed cleared up and he wasn't foaming at the mouth anymore.

"What the hell is going on?" he gasped out.

One by one, all the humans that had fallen ill to the virus were starting to come to and show signs of improvement.

Ms. Martin was with Sydney and helped her to sit up when she started stirring. She looked at her arm to find that the skin was cleared up. "They're gone."

"Can I take the test again now?" Sydney asked her eagerly.

Ms. Martin just gave her an amused smile before she stepped out.

"They're getting better," she said to a nearby CDC medic. "They're all getting better."

But the same could not be said for the supernaturals in the school.

In the vault, Malia was starting to crawl around, trying to feel for any of her friends. "What's happening to us?!" she cried out.

Kira crawled up to a support beam and used it to try and keep herself steady. "I can't see," she hissed out. "I can't see. Scott!"

Scott was trying to pull himself onto his feet by using the shelves as a support. Scott could vividly make out some of the light overhead, but everything else was mostly blurry blobs.

* * *

The Chemist smiled as he looked Stiles over. "I must say Mr. Stilinski, I am indeed surprised. I thought that you would be reduced to at least a crawling mess by now. Granted, you seem to be quite under the weather. Your eyes and your teeth are obviously abnormal, but you're at least still standing and it's been at least 8 hours since you've been exposed."

Stiles glared at him. "What can I say, I must have an iron clad constitution."

That made the madman chuckle. "You know, in the natural world, disease effects the immune system in different ways. There are those that fatally succumb to the infection while there are some that are immune. And then there are those that get sick, display symptoms, but are able to fight the infection and recover over time."

Stiles let out a sniffle. "Guess I'm fighting it off then," he said in a cracking voice.

The Chemist just shook his head and didn't lose his smile. "No. This is a weaponized virus. I tweaked it so it wouldn't kill humans. They can get sick but they'll get better. Werewolves on the other hand, they never do. Your body might be attempting to heal itself, but it will succumb and shut down eventually. If anything, it shows how unlucky you are. For your friends, death will come quick. For you, well, you're only prolonging your own suffering. I'm sure that you're feeling the weight of the virus as we speak." Stiles tried to move a bit but found himself needing to lean on the Coach's desk to keep his feet flat on the floor. The Chemist took a step into the room. "Now, tell me where your friends are Mr. Stilinski?" he asked as he pointed the gun for Stiles' heart.

"Or what? You'll kill me?" Stiles spat out.

"Oh, I'll be killing you, for sure. After all, you're worth quite a lot and I won't run the risk of letting someone else get you and your bounty. That's why I had to kill your previous assailant."

"The bomb guy? That was you?"

"Yes. Now tell me where your friends are, and I'll make the pain stop."

Stiles licked his chapped lips. The corners of his lips now had drying traces of black blood on them. "So, tell you where my friends are and kill me or don't tell you and let me die. I gotta say, both kind of suck, but I think I'll take the one where you only get 10 million for your trouble instead of 40. Besides, pain and I are old friends. I can take this for however long I have left."

The Chemist narrowed his eyes at him. "You think you have nothing to left to lose Mr. Stilinski? That you are holding all the cards, I'm afraid not. I still have plenty left in this school to put in my hand. Like perhaps Lydia's mother. Kira's father. They're both still in here. Perhaps watching as I hold this gun at Ms. Martin or Mr. Yukimura might change your mind? It's too late for you and your friends, but don't you think that at least everyone else in this building should live?"

Stiles let a cough loose as his hand grazed the Coach's mug. He narrowed his eyes at it before his blue eyes went up and met the Chemist's. "Go to hell."

Stiles then grabbed the mug and flung it at the man. He quickly ducked out of the way as the mug flew past him and smashed against the door's molding beside him. Stiles then charged at him. The Chemist tried to shoot him but the shot went off to the side harmlessly as they both fell back into the locker room. The Chemist sat up and tried to shoot at Stiles again but Stiles whacked at the man's hand and he screamed. Stiles' hands now had his claws out even though Stiles hadn't meant to bring them out. The claws had cut into the Chemist's lower wrist and made him lose grip on his gun. It slid off a few feet from them and Stiles quickly launched himself at the assassin again and tried to knock him out with a punch but the Chemist caught it and pushed him away. The Chemist reached into his pocket and pulled out a switchblade and tried to drive it into Stiles' neck. Stiles reached for his wrist to stop him and the Chemist moved to try and put his body weight behind the thrust. Stiles moved both his hands to try and stop him as he grit his fanged teeth to keep the blade from piecing him. It was now four inches over his neck and Stiles tried to put his full strength into pushing this man off but he could feel it all slipping away from him.

"As I said, no werewolf fights my disease off for long," the Chemist hissed as he kept pushing down to try and drive the knife into Stiles' throat. "After I kill you, I must remember to get a blood sample so I could better advance my virus." Stiles let out a pained and desperate yell as his hands were starting to shake and the knife was getting lower, hovering over his throat. "You fought well Mr. Stilinski. Take some solace in that."

Stiles felt the blade start to graze his skin and he let out a frightened gasp. Suddenly, there was a loud bang and Stiles felt something warm and wet spread across the front of his face. He opened his eyes to see that there was a big red hole in the front of the Chemist's head as he was gazing down at him. Stiles quickly pushed the man off him and looked over to see that there was a man in a hazmat suit by the locker room entrance. And he was holding a gun. For a wild second, he thought that it was another assassin. Stiles hurriedly got to his feet and readied his claws and growled at him. The guy in the suit only took off his helmet and revealed himself as Scott's father. Stiles tensed up and tried to cover his teeth and put his clawed hands away but his blue eyes were still shining in all their glory.

Rafael was just staring at Stiles with wide eyes and his lower lip was quivering. "What the hell?" he managed to gasp out.

"Where did you come from?" Stiles coughed out. "Why are you here?"

Rafael just pointed at him and seemed to be at a loss for words as he looked from the glowing eyed boy to the body of the man that he had just shot who was trying to kill him. Stiles then started coughing heavily which seemed to make Rafael remember why he was here in the first place. "Uh, Melissa called your father. Said that there is an antidote."

Stiles raised his head up. "An antidote? What?"

"I don't know. She told your father that it was Reshi mushrooms. You'll find them in the vault. That you, Scott, Kira and Malia have to get to the vault. They're on the shelves."

Stiles' blue eyes widened. The cure for what was happening to them was next to them the whole time. "I got to go." he coughed.

Before he could start moving, Rafael grabbed him. "But Stiles! What is going on? What is this?" he quickly asked but Stiles yanked his arm away.

"I gotta go!" he yelled as he pulled himself away from him and started to fumble out of the locker room.

Rafael was just left there, with the dead body by his feet, and that image of a glowing eyed, bestial looking boy burned into his retinas.

* * *

Derek and Satomi made their way out of the operating room when Melissa finished relaying the message to the Sheriff.

"I have to get to the school," Derek told her.

"But what about the others at lookout point?" Satomi asked. There were still a few members of her pack up there who had luckily been away from the others when the viral attack began.

The elevator doors opened ahead of them and they looked to see a blond haired woman calmly exiting the elevator as she went to pull out a gun on them. They quickly reacted. Derek jumped out of the way while Satomi brought out her blade to intercept the bullets as they came for her. In the room, Deaton pulled Melissa to a corner and kept her shielded while he looked through the windows on the doors. The assassin kept shooting bullet after bullet but Satomi moved to quickly knock each one away with pin point accuracy. Her blade made a fierce whistling sound as she whirled it through the air and got closer to the shooter with every step. The shooter got nervous and frantically tried to hit her but nothing could stop Satomi from driving the blade through the woman's neck.

When the shooting stopped, Derek, Deaton and Melissa came out of their hiding spots to see that the assassin's body was now on the ground and Satomi was twirling her bloodstained blade, impressively, in her hand.

She smiled at them. "I may have controlled my anger but I still know when to use it."

* * *

Stiles was keeping his head down as he ran to the basement to make sure no one else caught sight of his eyes. As he hurried down the stairs, he had slipped on a step and fell off and landed on the floor of the basement landing.

"Scott!" Stiles cried as he grit his fanged teeth and pulled himself forward. "Scott, open the vault!' he cried as he caught sight of the entrance.

Scott was on the other side, crawling for the entrance as well, with black veins now visible on his neck. "Stiles," he coughed out.

Stiles heard him. "Scott! The antidote. It's reshi mushrooms. It's in there. In the vault, on one of the shelves. It's in a jar. Open the door. We have to get to it!" Stiles managed to get to the wall and pulled himself to his knees. He started pounding against it desperately. "Scott, let me in!" Stiles kept whacking at the wall, trying to get inside. He could hear heartbeats inside, but they were slowing down and their power was dimming. "Scott! Malia! Kira!" he said, pounding his clawed palms against the wall with every name. Stiles then started coughing again and felt himself starting to slip to the floor, his claws leaving a thin white trail mark as they ran down. Stiles was shaking as the floor beneath him started getting fuzzy.

Kira was in the middle of the floor, fidgeting. "Reshi mushrooms? A jar, I think I saw that. It's on the shelf." She pointed out the general direction.

Scott stirred himself up and forced himself to his feet before leaning back against the wall. He then shook his head and brought out his red eyes. Suddenly, everything was all infared. He could make out Kira and Malia, writhing in agony on the ground. He then looked over to the shelves and noticed that something was glowing. He forced himself to it, tumbling and almost falling to his face with every step, but he pushed on. Leaning on whatever support he could find as he got. He managed to make it to the shelf but couldn't pull himself to be level with where the jar was. His legs had given out. He reached as high as he could, trying to feel for the jar. His hand grazed it but when he tried to grab it, it fell off and the jar shattered on the floor. As soon as it did, it's dust started to fill in the room and Scott was the first to breathe it in.

Outside, Stiles was leaning against the wall, his head lazily wobbling back and forth. His eyes were no longer glowing, and his claws and teeth were gone, but he could feel everything slipping. Stiles blinked his eyes as he tried not to lose focus but everything was still going in and out of being fuzzy. Suddenly, the door behind him started to slide open and Stiles jolted forward when Scott started to crawl out. He was still heaving but the black veins were gone and he could see again. He then lifted his hand to reveal some dust. He threw it on Stiles and he breathed it in. Stiles closed his eyes as he took in the reshi and he opened them back up to find that everything was getting clearer again.

Scott took in Stiles' face and saw that he was covered in blood. Fresh blood. Stiles saw that Scott was staring and realized that he must look a mess after what had happened in the locker room and started to quickly wipe his face off with his sleeve.

* * *

The school was out of lockdown and there was a stampede of all the students, eager to finally get out of there. The only three who were trying to get in where Lydia, Liam, and the Sheriff.

"Excuse me, excuse us," the Sheriff said as he tried to lead the two kids behind him inside the sea of escaping people.

Lydia got through the wave and her eyes widened at the person talking with the CDC. "Mom? Mom!" she cried as she ran to her mother. The two of them went into a tight embrace.

"I'm sorry," Natalie said as she held her daughter. "I'm so sorry." They then separated and she smiled at her. "I was just trying to get a little overtime."

Lydia smiled back and went in for another hug.

Liam was looking down the hall and checking every classroom they passed. "I don't see them anywhere. Where are they?"

"Check the basement." Stilinski told him. "They're probably still down there."

"Okay," Liam nodded and started to jog over to the stairs that led to the basement.

As for Noah, he started to look around on the ground floor, trying to find where Rafael had disappeared to when he stumbled into the locker room and found a surprising sight. On the floor was a dead man, a small pool of blood around the area of his head, with a silenced gun not too far away as well as a switchblade. Rafael was sitting on one of the changing benches, hunched over.

"McCall?"

Rafael looked up at him and Noah saw that he seemed shaken. "Your son…he, he was."

He understood what must've happened. "You saw something."

But he ran a hand furiously through his hair. "I couldn't have. I couldn't have seen what I saw."

"But you did."

Rafael's eyes narrowed a bit. "Earlier, you said that these assassins were after our boys, not because of who they were, but what they were. Are you saying that my son is…" The Sheriff's eyes dropped a bit, but he nodded. "What are they? What's happened to them?"

"I'll explain it all to you. But, right now, maybe it's best that we talk about it away from the boys first. They and their friends have enough on their plate right now."

* * *

Malia was sitting up, breathing better and wasn't sweating anymore. Stiles walked on in as Scott was moving to check on Kira. Stiles saw that Malia seemed to just be staring out into space.

"Malia?" he asked as he bent down next to her. She didn't react to him. "Hey, are you okay?" he asked as he gently moved his hand to her shoulder.

That finally made Malia react. She looked up at him and then grabbed his hand, and pulled it off of her. She then stood up and started to walk away from him, without looking back. Stiles just stared after her, with a pained look on his face.

At the entrance, Liam came over and was breathing hard, from both tiredness and excitement. "Oh, found you guys." Malia came over and didn't react to him. She just kept walking passed him.

"Liam?" Scott asked, still holding onto Kira.

"Yeah," he nodded. "The Sheriff helped me in. I wanted to help but…" he trailed off before he looked over to where Malia walked out. "What happened?"

Stiles noticed that there was a folded paper where Malia had been laying and picked it up. He saw that it was the Deadpool. The part that had her name on it. Stiles must've forgotten that he had it still in his jacket pocket. She had seen her name. Her name listed as Malia Hale.

Scott sighed as he saw it too. He moved and took Kira with him, to leave the vault. It looked like Stiles needed to be alone right now. As the two of them left, Liam stayed by the doorway, watching as Stiles crumbled the paper up in his hand. He started breathing a little harshly before he just went and took that hand and slammed it down into the floor, hard. So hard, that there was a crack in it from where he made impact.

He heard a small yelp from behind him and he sniffed before wiping his nose with his other hand. "Liam," he called out.

Liam had been backing away but froze when Stiles said his name. "Yeah?"

"My dad's upstairs?"

"Yeah," he said quickly. "He wants to see you."

Stiles nodded before he stood up and turned to head on out of the vault. "Yeah, I want to see him too." Some drops of blood were falling from the cut open knuckles of his hand while they started to slowly knit themselves closed. "Let's get out of here then," Stiles mumbled to him. "I've had enough of this place."

Liam quickly nodded as he saw Stiles walking towards him as if he hadn't just punched a small indent in the stone floor. Liam's nose twitched as he smelled the blood from Stiles' hand but he could see that Stiles was handling it. Liam guessed that doing that had to have hurt but his face gave nothing away. Maybe Lydia was right. Maybe he should ask for Stiles' help with his powers. Though, something tells him that maybe right now wasn't the right time.

The two of them stepped out of the vault and the door slid itself closed after them.


	15. Time of Death

Chapter 15: Time of Death

It was a nice and sunny afternoon and Cora was laughing as she ran over to one of the swings.

"Laura, can you push me so I could go as high as the bar?" she asked as she moved to sit in one.

Laura smiled at her. "Yeah, I'll see what I can do."

School was over and they were in the midst of summer now. This now left the Hale children with a whole lot of new free time on their hands. Cora had to deal with was a summer reading list but she had already made a decent sized dent in it. Laura had also graduated and had been caught up in all of the post-graduation madness. Things like summer parties and trying to dodge some attempts of horny graduates trying to squeeze one last hoorah before they all went their separate ways. But right now, Laura wanted to take a break from all that and spend a day in the park with her little sister.

Laura was calmly pushing her nine year old sister on the swing as her eyes when her eyes fell on an ice cream truck stopping nearby. "Hey Cora, I'm in the mood for a cone. How about you?"

"Yeah," she said excitedly.

"Okay, come on."

They went to get themselves a cone and were now sitting together on one of the benches, just watching nothing and everything going on around them.

"Laura?" Cora asked all of a sudden.

"Yeah?"

"Is mom going to be late coming home again?"

For the last few weeks, their mother had been out, sometimes with her betas, and seemed to be looking through the town, and even the woods for something. If Laura didn't know any better, she would swear that her mother was trying to track something down. Or someone. But when she asked her, she had said that it wasn't something for her to worry about. From the sound of it, Laura guessed that it might even be personal.

"I don't know. Maybe. Hey, I didn't see Derek around when I got up."

"Oh, I did. He left when you were in the bathroom. Said that he wanted to go meet with a friend of his."

Laura had been noticing that Derek had been sneaking off more and more recently. She didn't know why, but she didn't like it. Suddenly, a hard scent of depression entered her nostrils. Depression, despair and grief. She looked around and saw that it seemed to be coming from a sea saw close by. There were two boys on it. Both looked around Cora's age. One was tanned skin and had dark shaggy hair while the other had paler skin and lighter floppy like hair. It seemed that the scent was coming from the lighter one.

"Hey Cora," she said as she kept her eyes on the boys. "Do you know who they are?" she asked pointing them out. "It looks like they might be your age."

Cora followed where she pointed to and she nodded. "Yeah, they're both in my grade. The lighter one, that's Stiles."

"Stiles?" Laura asked skeptically. "That's his name?"

"Well it's what everyone calls him. I think his name is supposed to be something too hard to actually say."

"Huh," she said taking that information in. "What about the other one?" she asked pointing to the tanner skinned boy.

"That's Scott. They're best friends."

"You know them well?"

Cora shrugged. "Not really. Only a little. Why?"

"That boy, Stiles, he's smiling but I can tell he's really sad. I'm able to smell his sadness all the way over here. And his friend feels sad for him too."

"Oh, his mom just died."

"What?"

"Yeah. He was absent from school for a couple of times this year. Everyone was talking about it for a bit. His mom had been in the hospital. She was sick with something and he often stayed with her. She died a few weeks ago."

"Oh." That explained the sadness she felt coming off him. Even though he was playing with his friend. She then saw that they were leaving the sea saw and found herself listening in.

"What do you want to do next?" Stiles had asked.

Scott shrugged. "Anything you want. Swing. The slide. Anything."

Stiles shrugged his shoulders and spotted the sandbox. "How about that?"

"Okay."

They then moved to head for the sandbox where there was already a grand sand castle tower built inside and Stiles sat down first. Scott moved to sit next to him and put his hand over his friend's shoulder. Stiles stopped and took a deep breath as he smiled back at him. Laura then felt the sadness he had dissipate a bit and she couldn't help but smile at the sight. But she was thrown when a kickball seemed to fly off and crash into the sand castle in front of them and sprayed mostly Scott with a face full of sand.

"Whoa, sorry there McCall," a cheery looking boy said as he came over to them with two other boys. His smile, tone and the fact he and his friends were giggling to themselves made it clear that he was anything but sorry.

Stiles looked over at Scott as he was spitting out sand that had gotten into his mouth and trying to wipe his face clean and he picked himself up to face them "Go away Jackson, we're not bothering you," he told them.

"Hey, it was an accident. Don't go biting my head off Stiles. Relax, it's just a little sand. I mean, it's not like he's dying," Jackson laughed out.

Stiles' face went into a small glare as he looked ready to pounce on the boy but Scott grabbed for his arm.

"Forget it Stiles. I'm okay."

"See? He's okay." Jackson then looked over and spotted the small fountain area that was shooting jets of water into the air randomly. "Still dirty though. How about I help him get clean? Huh guys?"

Jackson then reached and grabbed Scott as his two friends went to hold Stiles back from helping him. Scott was screaming that he didn't want to get wet but Jackson kept forcefully leading him over to it.

"Hey!" Laura called out, making all five boys stop in their tracks. "Is there something going on here?"

Jackson quickly let Scott go and his friends released Stiles. "No," he said shaking his head at the older girl. "Just playing."

"Well, it sounds like these boys don't want to play anymore so why not go and call it a day?" she calmly but sternly suggested to them. Jackson then moved to grab their ball and he and his friends took off. "You two okay?"

"Yeah," Stiles said as Scott nodded before he reached for the inhaler in his pocket and took a whiff from it.

Laura could sense Stiles' concern but Scott just shook his head.

"It's okay. I'm okay," he said, trying to reassure his friend with a small smile.

"Good," Stiles sighed in relief. He then looked behind Laura and waved. "Hi Cora." Scott waved too.

"Hi," she politely waved back at them.

Laura smiled from her sister to the boys. There was something about these two. Seeing how they were together. Scott silently and effortlessly healing his friend's emotional pain. Stiles jumping quickly to his defense without a second thought. It stirred something in Laura. Something that touched both her, and her wolf. She reached over and helped wipe some sand from the top of Scott's head and then moved to straighten out the wrinkles in Stiles' shirt. "Well, you two do seem okay. But maybe you two should go on home. In case anything else happens with those boys. Okay?"

"Okay." They both nodded and the two of them started walking off, side by side.

"Laura, you okay?" Cora asked her.

"Yeah," she nodded. "They seem nice."

Her sister shrugged. "They're okay. I guess."

"Cute too," Laura said with a smile. "Wouldn't you say? I think Stiles might've been trying to flirt with you back there."

Cora ducked her head a bit. "Ha Ha, very funny. Well, I'm tired of the park now. Can we go home too?"

"Okay," Laura laughed out. "Come on."

As they walked off, she went and turned to get one last look at both Scott and Stiles. She felt that the way those two boys were with each other was not too unlike how Laura was with her family and pack mates. She had seemed drawn to them and was quick to come to their aid. And they seemed like nice and caring enough boys, loyal as well. They had each other but she could tell that there was some deep down loneliness and longing for further companionship from both of them. She wondered if all this was what her mother had told her about before. Had her wolf marked them for possible additions to her pack? A small part of her did think that those two might actually make a fine addition to a pack. They might be young but she could see the potential. She would keep an eye out for them. Maybe in about eight or nine years, when they were mature young adults, she would see if they might consider taking the bite and being in her future pack with her brother and sister.

* * *

The window to Stiles' room opened and the boy himself stepped inside before he went and reached his hand out. He then helped Malia into the room and they were both smiling and giggling together.

Stiles quickly put a finger over his lips. "Shh," he hissed out quickly. "I can hear my dad sleeping." He then went to close the window shut.

Malia nodded. "That was…great," she whispered excitedly to him.

"Yeah." Stiles let a deep breath out. "I can't remember the last time I just ran out in the woods just for the hell of it."

Malia's smile deepened. "I used to do it all the time. Letting the wind brush past my fur. Feeling the dirt underneath my paws. Getting excited when the smell of deer went into my nose. Can we go hunting for one next time?"

"Yeah," Stiles shrugged though a normal person could tell he didn't really mean it. "Or we could go and grab a burger after."

"Oh, I guess that's good too." She then looked over at his bed. "Can I stay tonight?"

"Of course." Malia then moved over to him and grabbed at the side of his neck, pulling him in for a kiss. Stiles melted into her lips and his hands moved to rub gently at the side of her neck. They lightly kissed for half a minute before Stiles groaned and moved his hands to her shoulders and separated him. "As much as like to continue this, we do have school in a few hours. We should get some sleep."

Malia sighed but nodded. Stiles moved to strip himself of his jacket and then moved to remove his shoes and jeans while Malia began to take off her own jacket and started to unbutton her jeans. Stiles let his eyes stay on Malia as she stripped herself down to her undershirt and underwear. His eyes took in her calm face in the moonlight shining in through the window. When they were both down to two pieces of clothing apiece she started to head for the bed and he quickly moved to lay next to her. He pulled the blanket over them and then moved his arms around her shoulders and began to spoon her. His foot went to rub against her ankles as the bare skin of their legs rubbed against one another. He moved to give the back of her neck a small kiss, which made Malia sigh under her breath, before he ran his hand over the back of her hair. He was about to snuggle with her but she started to break away from his grip.

"Hey Stiles," she softly mumbled to him.

"Yeah?"

Malia turned herself around to face him and looked up at his eye. "Do you think we can try something new tonight?"

Stiles narrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "What do you mean, new?"

"Just something…different."

"Uh, yeah. Sure."

He lied flat on his back and moved a bit to the side while he moved to pull Malia to him. Malia snuggled closer to him and rested her head on his chest while Stiles rested his arm around her. They stayed like that for a few moments but Malia was still a little uncomfortable. Stiles sensed her discomfort and moved a little to try and let her find how she wanted to lie down. He tried to lie on his side so that the two of them were facing each other and Stiles tried to pull her into him but Malia quickly raised her hand to push on his chest.

"Stiles, could you turn around?"

Stiles' eyebrows rose up but he moved to turn so that his back was facing Malia and he quickly felt her moving in on him. Malia's arms wrapped around him while she had her legs hook around his. Her chest was pressed firmly onto his back as she slid her smooth legs over his. Malia then leaned her head in and her nose started to rub against his cheek. Stiles found himself closing his eyes and letting out a stated low growl in his throat as he let his body lean back into her hold.

"Mmm, I think this is good," he mumbled. "Yeah, it's good."

"Very good," she muttered as sleep started to claim her.

The two of them just laid there as they slept to sound of each other's heartbeats breathed in each other's scents. Stiles then opened his eyes as he felt that there was a lack of warmth on his back. He looked over at the vacant spot next to him and sighed in disappointment. It had been a full day since the quarantine and he hadn't seen Malia since she left him at the vault. He had tried to go to her house earlier that day but Mr. Tate had said that she had taken off early and hadn't said where she was going, claiming that she wanted to be alone. He would've gone and tracked her down but he had a feeling that she would only be madder at him if he did. Stiles laid there, with his hand running down that empty space with a somber look on his face for who knows how long.

If that wasn't enough, there was also the small side issue of Scott's dad stumbling onto him when he was shifted in the locker room. His father said that he would handle it but asked him to not mention what happened to Scott, which wasn't hard as Scott seemed to be giving him some space with what was happening between him and Malia. Stiles didn't know what this now meant but he promised his father that he wouldn't say anything. He wasn't a fan of Agent McCall, but still, the guy did save him. He saw that he was in trouble and killed that assassin without a second thought. He still remembered the feeling of that man's blood spreading across his face. Sadly, he was no stranger to blood now but this was the first time that some got somewhere other than his hands. But he heard a sound from outside his room which drew him out of all his musing. It sounded like someone was climbing the side of his house and was heading for his bedroom window.

"Malia?" Stiles threw himself out of his bed and rushed over to open the window. As he pulled it open, the person on the other side let out a yelp and jumped back in shock. It wasn't Malia. "Liam?!" Stiles said before he reached over to catch the startled boy before he fell. He then pulled him back towards the window and he climbed on in.

"Thanks," he breathed in relief before he looked back out. "Wow, that's not as easy as it looks."

"What the heck are you doing?" Stiles asked, disappointed and annoyed. "You can't just climb on in here out of the blue like that. What's the matter with you?"

Liam narrowed his eyes at him. "What's the-? Wait, didn't _you_ climb into my room through the window last week?"

"Why are you here you little rascal?" Stiles groaned out making Liam sigh out an annoyed huff. But Stiles could see that something seemed to be bothering him. "Liam, what is it? Something wrong?"

"No," he said quickly. "Well, I don't know. I couldn't sleep."

Stiles sniffed and nodded. "Yeah, and you reek of anxiety." He then pointed off to the chair by his desk and Liam went to sit down there while Stiles went to sit at the foot of his bed.

"You could smell my mood? We can do that?" Liam asked him.

"Oh yeah. It's all about detecting and sifting through a mix of chemo signals, pheromones, hearing people's heart rates, yada yada. You'll learn."

At that, Liam narrowed his eyes. "Actually, that's what I wanted to talk about. I want to learn."

"Learn what?"

"Everything. You know, the shifting. The hearing. The fighting. The chemo thing. All of it." He took a deep breath. "I want to learn how to be a werewolf."

"Okay, so why come to me?"

"Lydia said that I should. She told me that if I really wanted to learn then you could teach me. She said that you were the one that taught Scott and were teaching Malia so you could do that for me."

"Yeah." Stiles rubbed at his eyes. "Uh…but what about Scott? Why not go to him? He is the Alpha."

Liam's eyes dropped a bit. "Scott, he says that I should work on being normal. That I have to focus on not getting angry so I don't shift. He doesn't want me using any of it. He wants me to focus on trying to be a normal kid."

Stiles nodded. He had to admit, that did sound exactly like Scott. "But let me guess, that's easier said than done?"

He nodded. "With Garrett, and what happened at the school, I don't think I can. I can't just keep my head down and pretend that none of this is happening."

Stiles narrowed his eyes at him. "And you don't want to."

"No," Liam said shaking his head.

Stiles looked Liam up and down for a bit before he folded his arms. "If we're going to do this, then I'm not going to be easy on you."

"Good," Liam nodded.

"You're going to have to do what I say," Stiles said sternly.

"I will."

Stiles kept going with the same sternness. "You have to take all this seriously, listen and really work at what I'm going to teach you."

"I will," Liam promised.

"And you can't start complaining if it gets too hard."

Liam narrowed his eyes at him. "I won't."

Stiles nodded. "Good. Let's get started then."

Liam's eyes popped up. "What? You mean, right now."

"Yeah. Don't tell me you're going to complain a second after you said you wouldn't?"

Liam quickly shook his head. "No. No, I just didn't think we would start this very minute."

"The sooner that you're trained the better. These assassins surely aren't going to care if you're trained or not. They don't care that you've only been a werewolf for around two weeks or that you didn't ask to be one. All they know and care about is that alive, you mean nothing to them. But dead, you mean 5 million dollars. You're not some freshman to them, you're a walking bag of money. You think they're going to back off because you're a scared and innocent kid?" Liam's face paled a bit but he shook his head. "Okay. Go onto the roof and wait for me. I got to change first."

Liam waited for about three minutes before he heard some grunting and then saw Stiles pulling himself to stand on the roof with him, dressed in his sweater and some jeans.

Liam gave the place another look around. "You sure it's safe to train up here? Someone might see us."

"It's okay. Most are asleep and this is more of a lecture than a lesson. Besides, being out here in a public place is part of the lesson."

"What lesson?"

"This one." Stiles then reached into his pocket and pulled out a gun and pointed it right at Liam. "A gun can be pointed at you from out of nowhere." Liam shrieked in fright and backed away a step as he held his hands up to him. "Relax." Stiles then raised the gun up to him. "It's my father's spare gun and it's not loaded." He showed that the bullet casing was in and he reached into his pocket to show it to him.

"What the hell?" Liam gasped at him.

"Trying to build on your instincts. When you see a loaded gun pointed out you, you have less than a second to act. You either run or attack. And you froze."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize to me. It's you who would've been shot."

"But, I thought we could heal?"

"Yeah, but it still hurts like hell when a bullet pierces into our body. And even we can't heal from a bullet to the head." Liam seemed really scared now. Which is what Stiles wanted. He then reached over and extended the gun to him. "Here."

"What?"

"Take it. Take it and then point it at me like you want to shoot me."

"Why?"

Stiles now glared at him. "Didn't you just say that you would listen to me a moment ago. Now do what I say and take the gun."

Liam timidly reached over for the gun and took it in his hands. It might not be loaded but Liam still thought it felt heavy and his hand was shaking a bit from holding it. Stiles just stood there, waiting for whenever he was ready. Liam took a deep breath and then quickly rose his hand to point the gun at him. As soon as he leveled off his arm, Stiles jumped forward and grabbed Liam's wrist. He pulled it up and Liam gasped in pain as his grip loosened and Stiles knocked the gun away.

"Ow," Liam said as he held his hurt wrist.

"No complaining," Stiles reminded him as he went to pick up the gun.

"How did you do that?"

"We'll get to that but first I want you to take this and smell it." He handed Liam the cartridge with the bullets. "Recognize the scent of the iron mixed in with gunpowder. One of the first things I did when I learned of people coming to this town that wanted to kill me was to make myself remember that scent. That, and the scent of wolfsbane. Not all the assassins will have it but the smarter ones will probably have bullets laced with it and those hinder our healing." He then reached into his pocket and pulled out a small baggie with a purple powder inside. "Recognize this scent too. Once you have them both down, it should help make it be your instinct to be scared and alert when you detect them, especially together."

"I thought you said that I can't be scared?"

Stiles' eyes rose up. "When did I say that? Liam, let me tell you right now that I'm scared. I'm scared out of my ever loving mind. So is Scott. All of us are scared. But we're still fighting anyway. It's actually important and smart to be scared. It's actually because of being scared that I was able to push myself to learn how to do that trick with the gun. The one that I'm now going to show you."

"That's what you're going to teach me first?"

"Yeah." Liam's face lit up and Stiles looked around. "But not here." He then moved to the edge of the roof. "Follow me."

Stiles then jumped off the edge and landed with his feet firmly on the ground. Liam jumped on after him.

* * *

Rafael was making notes into a video recorder in his makeshift office at the Sheriff's station. He took the bullets from the gun recovered off the Chemist and began to bag them before taking the weapon and bagging it separately.

"Preliminary notes on firearm discharge incident. Assailant armed with silence repressor equipped on .88 and a five inch switchblade. Having heard the struggle and the perpetrator's declaration of his murderous intent of his intended victim, I made visual confirmation of the attempted murder. Assailant had the intended victim pinned down as he struggled to drive the switchblade into the teenage boy's throat against his hold to push his attacker back though seemed to be faltering under the attacker's assault. Determining the danger to be imminent, I felt no choice but to respond with the use of deadly force."

He had no idea that outside, his son Scott was listening to the whole thing. Stiles hadn't said anything about his encounter with the Chemist other than his father arriving to save him. He didn't seem to want to talk though Scott understood as Stiles was going through something big right now with Malia so he didn't push. But, now he knew the whole story. His father had shot the Chemist before he could stab his friend through his throat. Killed him before he could kill Stiles. Scott was confused about what he was feeling right now.

He looked up when he saw his father walking out of the office. "Thanks for waiting. I know it's late," his father said as he closed the door behind him.

"It's okay," Scott cut in. "It's not like we're going to school tomorrow anyway." The school had announced that it would be closed until further notice to sort out all the aftermath left behind by the quarantine.

Rafael could see that Scott was feeling uncomfortable. He had a feeling about what it was. "You know that I had no choice, right?"

Scott found himself looking down at his feet. "Have you ever had to do it before? Kill someone?"

"Twice," his father muttered. "It wasn't easy either of those times either."

"How do you do it? How do you handle it?" He couldn't imagine having to live with taking someone's life. It was the one thing that he tried his hardest to never ever do, no matter what.

Rafael sighed. "I push my personal feelings away and look at it all logically. When I saw that man a second away from stabbing Stiles, I didn't even think. Looking back, I knew that if I hadn't acted, the blade might've been stuck into him and he would be dead right now. Now, looking back calmly and logically, if I had to choose what to do all over again, I would make the same choice."

Scott nodded. He started to try and look at it logically now. If his father hadn't shot the Chemist then Stiles, would probably be dead right now. If Stiles had died, then he wouldn't have been able to tell them all about the Rishi mushrooms in the vault and he, Kira and Malia might all be dead right now too. Still, it didn't make him feel any better. "And how do you go on after you do all that?"

"Well, I used to do it by drinking," he said with some degree of shame. He then shook himself out of it. "Listen Scott, I have to finish this report and afterwards, I'm going to have to oversee some other things which means I might not make it for your next game."

Scott could see that his dad was upset by that and shook his head. "It's okay," he shrugged off.

"No, it's not. I promised that I would try and be around more for you, and your mom. Make it so she could get more time at the hospital. But, believe me, I wouldn't be doing any of this unless I had to."

"I know," Scott said shaking his head.

"Uh…when I get back, maybe you and I could finally talk."

"About what?"

"Everything. For the longest time, I've been trying to wrap my head around what it is that's going around here in this town and how you and your friends seem to be always in the thick of it. When I get back, I think its time you finally tell me everything."

With that, Rafael began to walk off leaving his son watching after him with a somber look on his face. Scott didn't know that he already knew. Knew what he was. A werewolf. His son was a werewolf. His best friend Stiles was a werewolf and his other friends were…he couldn't even begin to wrap his head around them.

His mind flashed again to the discussion that he and the Sheriff had only that morning. They had sat down in Stilinski's house, his son had been out, and the man began telling him the most outrageous tale he had ever heard. Of how one year ago, their two boys had gone looking for a body in the woods and had come across a giant animal that bit them and what came from it. The animal attacks had been the work of supernatural creatures and their boys had gone off to try and stand in their way, first by themselves and then with the help of their new friends. And now, there was someone out there trying to have them, and people like them killed. His son had a 20 million dollar price on his head. And his friends had millions on theirs as well. Now he knew why these high profile assassins were coming here. He had to reach out to his contacts and find out who else might be making their way to Beacon Hills. He wanted to do a lot more. To take his son, and his friends, and put them somewhere where they'll all be safe but the Sheriff talked him out of it. He told him that their boys would never go along with it as there were still people out there that needed them. Not to mention that going through the proper channels to get it done would mean a lot of explaining which they needed to avoid. The situation was already complicated enough and that would only further complicate things, especially with the supernatural involved which would only endanger their sons and their friends, not make them safer. The Sheriff also told him that Scott had to stay focused so he shouldn't say anything about him knowing the truth, at least until after the mess with the Benefactor was solved. Rafael didn't like any of this, but if it meant keeping his son alive, he would bare it.

* * *

Liam was standing off in the middle of the woods, his head bowed down and his eyes closed. His face was scrunched up in focus as the sun shined down on him through the tree branches. Next to him was one phone playing _Return of the Mack_ from Mark Morrison and another phone at his other side was running loud random sounds on a noisemaker app. The radio from the parked jeep nearby was playing _Animal I Have Become_ by Three Days Grace at the same time that a laptop was open in the passenger seat was playing a movie scene with people talking all at once. Nearby was a running stream and there were some birds tweeting away. Liam was shaking a bit as all the noise was sounding around him but he was calm, taking deep breaths.

"Alright!" Liam then opened his eyes as he looked over to see Stiles stepping out of the brush, moving towards him. "What did I just say?"

Liam tensed a bit. "Uh, 1977 was a critical year for what reason? And if you don't know then you need a good whack on the back of the head."

Stiles smiled as he moved over to turn off the radio in his jeep and closed his laptop. "Exactly word for word. And I was only mumbling it that time."

Liam cracked a smile as he went to turn off both of their phones next to him. "Really? It sounded like how you're talking to me right now."

"Seems you've now gotten a handle on honing your hearing then."

"It was like you said. I just had to calmly sift through the sounds and block out what I didn't want to hear. After that, I was able to find your voice and focus on it."

"Great." Stiles then looked at his watch. "We started on this a little less than half an hour ago, it's hard to believe that you were screaming and wanted to rip your ears off then."

Liam went to give his ears a small rub but he still had a smile on. "I got it. I got this now," he said excitedly.

"Whoa," Stiles said as he held his hand up to him. "Calm down. Okay, I was taking my time and talking slowly while you were on the lookout for my voice. It's a lot different to hone in on things out of the blue and in the moment."

"Yeah, but I can hear for things now," Liam said still with some excitement. "And the noises don't hurt my ears anymore. Thanks Stiles."

Stiles let a small smile sneak up on him as he felt some warm pride swell in his chest. "Hey, it's my pleasure." He then saw Liam rubbing his eyes. "You okay?"

Liam quickly nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. So, what's next?"

Stiles checked the time again. It was already past ten in the morning. Stiles had taken Liam in the woods to try and teach him some tricks, but after he'd shown him how to disarm someone pointing a gun at him, Liam had wanted him to show him more. Stiles then started to teach him how to track using his sense of smell and made Liam try to find some objects Stiles hid away. Even made him try to track him down after he gave him a five minute head start. It had taken Liam a good forty minutes before he caught him and Stiles had made sure it wasn't easy, like he promised. That only made Liam seem to want to push himself more and asked for Stiles to keep showing him more.

"We have been here all morning. Maybe we should call it a day."

"No, I'm fine. I want to keep going."

Stiles let a small laugh out. Liam sounded like an eager little child just now. "Liam, you know how to make a guy lose his gun, got some experience with tracking through your sense of smell and you've got a better handle with your enhanced hearing. I think that's good for a day's work. You've already come a long way today. You're actually doing better than me and Scott when we first started."

Liam scratched the back of his head, feeling his cheeks getting a little hot but then he sighed. "Yeah but, what about my…problem?"

Stiles moved to meet Liam's eyes. A little after dawn, Liam asked if he could show him how to fight like he saw with him and Garrett back at the school. Stiles didn't see a reason why not, especially since he had made a point to get through to him of how serious it was that Liam take his lessons seriously. Stiles had started on trying to teach Liam how to shift so that he could reveal what he wanted only and not trigger a full change. Such as bring out his claws only but when Liam tried, he had started out good but when they were halfway out, he lost it. He had started breathing harder and had bent down, in pain before he shot his head up and revealed himself fully shifted and tried to run off on an angered bender. Stiles took off after him, worried he would go on and hurt someone and managed to catch him. They had struggled against each other but Stiles got him down on a pin and held him until he settled himself. When Liam was calm, he had asked if they could move on to something else and come back to it later. Stiles had sensed his embarrassment and decided to do that. It was clear that Liam's anger was as much an issue as it was when they first met him.

"Liam, I don't think that's something we can help you get a handle of in a day."

"I thought that being a werewolf was supposed to fix things like that. I mean, you said that it cured Scott from having asthma and helped you with your ADHD."

"Those were different. Those were physical ailments that we suffered under so the bite could cure them. What you have…it's not something to cure."

But Liam shook his head. "It has to be. They diagnosised me. IED. How is that not something to cure?"

"Maybe it's not." Stiles stiffened a bit. "When Scott and I got really angry, we found that we were actually stronger when we were that way. It could be that the bite didn't touch your anger because it's not something meant to fix. Maybe it's something for you to learn to hone in and use. If it is, then I'll help you figure out how to do that."

"But Scott's been saying that I shouldn't be getting angry."

Stiles let himself deflate. "Well, it wouldn't exactly be the first time you didn't listen to what he says, wouldn't it?" Liam looked down at the ground at that but in the next moment, Stiles' phone rang. He saw that it was Scott calling him. "Scott hey, what's up?"

* * *

Stiles, Scott and Kira went and placed their laptops on the table.

"Is three enough?" Kira asked.

Stiles shrugged. "Well, it depends on how many cameras they have but, yeah, I think so."

Liam leaned in. "Are we really doing this?"

Scott nodded. "We're doing it. Tonight."

"But, isn't it kind of dangerous?" Liam asked them.

"Yeah, it's incredibly dangerous and borderline idiotic," Stiles told him.

"You've done something like this before?"

"Something dangerous or something idiotic?"

"I think it's a bit of both," Kira piped in.

Scott saw Liam's discomfort. "You don't have to be a part of it if you don't want to," he said to him.

"I am a part of it. Doesn't matter if I want to be or not, they don't care," he said looking at Scott. He then turned to Stiles. "I know, I'm just a walking bag of money to them…but I'm not scared."

Stiles went and grasped Liam's shoulder. "Now that's borderline idiotic," he said a little fondly. But his face darkened a bit as he looked over at Scott. "Alright, if we do this, we don't know who or what's coming for us. You know that right?"

"How do we even know something is definitely coming?" Kira asked them.

"Because the tape from Garrett's bag said Visual Confirmation Required," Scott answered.

"Yeah, Simon told me the same thing. He said that he couldn't get paid by the Benefactor for all of you if he didn't have proof that you all were dead too," Stiles mumbled.

"So, the idea is, what if you kill someone on the Deadpool but you can't send them proof?" Scott brought up.

Kira shook her head. "You don't get paid."

"But how does that get us any closer to the Benefactor?" asked Liam.

"He still needs to know if someone is dead," Scott told him.

Stiles nodded. "Especially if it's someone high on the list." He then looked at Scott. "The highest on the list."

Liam was starting to understand. "So if he wants confirmation…"

"He's going to have to get it himself," Scott finished for him.

"You did tell your mom about this, right?"

Scott sighed as he heard Stiles' question. "Yeah. She didn't take it well."

Stiles stuck his bottom lip out a bit. "Seeing the corpse of her son not even two days after he was almost killed by a weaponized virus…can't imagine why." But Stiles then thought of something else. "But Scott, we still need an assassin to try and claim your bounty. Who's going to be the one to try and ask the Benefactor for your 20 million?"

"Could we get Braeden?" asked Kira.

Stiles shook his head. "We don't have any money. Besides, we would need to pay her, to try to get paid, for a job where she wouldn't get paid even more for what we're paying her for."

"Oh," Kira mumbled with a nod while Liam raised his eyebrows in confusion.

"Huh?" he asked.

"It doesn't matter." Scott ran a hand furiously across his forehead. "I already got someone."

"Who?" Stiles asked.

Scott inwardly braced himself. He knew Stiles was not going to like this. "Argent."

He was silent for a moment but Stiles then shrugged. "Okay."

"Okay?" Scott was surprised that Stiles seemed cool with it. Usually, anything relating to Argent he would try and fight him on it.

"Yeah, makes sense. The guy has a history with the werewolves around here and has a reputation. If anyone tried to say that they killed you but couldn't prove it, no one might believe them but he might be the one that might actually give the claim the benefit of the doubt." He had spoken calmly and with no stutters in his voice. "When do we start?"

"In a few hours. Around sundown. We have to wait for Kira's mom."

Stiles nodded. "Okay. Uh, I'll head over to the hospital and get everything ready for when we all get there." He then moved to pack up their computers into his bag.

"What can I do?" Liam asked them.

"Rest," Stiles said as he zipped his bag up. "You've had a long morning. Get some sleep, you'll need it, okay?"

Liam sighed but nodded. "Okay."

Scott narrowed his eyes a bit at that. Stiles and Liam seemed to be kind of chummy all of a sudden. And he saw that Liam was going off to do what Stiles had told him to do while Stiles made to head out of the front door. He watched as Liam moved towards his living room couch and moved to try and take a nap. He didn't know why, but he felt his hair stand on end seeing Liam go to follow Stiles' suggestion without a second thought.

"Hey," Kira said as she lightly grabbed his shoulder. "You okay?"

"Yeah," he sighed out. "Guess I'm just a little worried."

Kira saw Scott's gaze lingering on Liam as he settled to try and get some rest. It was still amazing how much younger he looked when he slept. "He'll be fine. If anyone should be worried, it's me," she mumbled.

He then looked over at Kira. "Why? You don't think you can you do it?"

"Uh…I don't know. I hope so. What if I make a mistake?"

Scott went to take Kira's hand gently into his own. "You won't. I trust you. I know you can do it."

Their fingers rubbed against each other and the two of them leaned towards each other in a small kiss. Scott then broke away after a few seconds and pulled her towards the stairs. They had some time before her mother got back and he wanted to spend it with her, alone.

* * *

Braeden woke up in the bed in Derek's loft to find that there was no sign of Derek anywhere. The last time she had woken up, he had been sitting close by her but there was no sign of him anywhere. She got up and started to look around and quickly found him on his couch downstairs. She quietly moved over to him and sat next to him. She noticed that his shirt was riding up a bit and had a little hunch. She carefully lifted it to see that the wound he suffered from the last assassin wasn't healed even though it had been two days now. The next thing she knew, her hand was in his hard grip. Derek was wide awake.

"What are you doing?" he asked her.

She then smirked at him. "Protecting my investment," she said, echoing his own words back at him. Derek nodded to her in amusement. But she wasn't amused. "Why aren't you healing?"

"Some wounds take longer," he tried to shrug off.

"And some leave scars but not for people like you, so what's going on?"

He pulled away from her. "Maybe I'm just tired." He then turned so that his back was facing her.

Braeden wasn't going to let that stop her. "Derek, show me your eyes."

"You just saw them," he mumbled.

"Show me your real eyes." He slowly turned himself back to face her, but his eyes weren't glowing. She then nodded. "Okay, now how about you tell me what's really going on."

* * *

When Noshiko had arrived, Kira had gone to wake Liam up to begin the first phase of the plan. Scott was lying on his bed as Kira, her mother and Liam were surrounding him.

Liam was starting to pace as his nerves started to tense up. "Are you guys sure about this?"

Kira let out a deep breath. "Uh, I think Liam's kind of nervous. Maybe you should tell him that it's going to be alright?"

From her tone, she clearly wasn't talking about Liam.

Scott smiled at her. "It's going to be alright," he said with his eyes never leaving her.

But Liam was still pacing. "So, you've done this before, right?" he asked Noshiko.

"I've seen it done," she told him.

"Is that just as good?" he asked hesitantly.

"No," she said in a dead tone.

"Mom," Kira scolded. "You're not inspiring confidence."

"Good," she said to her daughter sternly. "This is a terrible idea."

"Do you want us to do it without you?"

Noshiko stared hard at her daughter who was giving her a hard look. She then let her gaze shift from Scott to Liam and then back to her daughter. She sighed and then moved her hand to be over Scott. "Move your hand over his heart,' she instructed.

Kira nodded before she started to move to be over him. She then started to slowly move her hand to be over his chest but Scott's hand suddenly shot up and gripped hers.

"Hold on," he told her. He then looked over at Noshiko. "What happens, while I'm out? Am I going to feel anything?"

"It might feel like you're dreaming," she told him.

"Good dreams or bad?"

"I suppose that depends on you."

Scott sighed before he settled himself back into his bed while Kira tried to loosen her nerves back down and Liam started pacing himself where he stood. Kira then started to hover her hand right over where Scott had his heart and then started to let out an electrical jolt that lit up the room. Scott laid there and took it until he let out a loud gasp as he felt his body start to shut itself down.

Noshiko then looked over to Liam. "Call the hospital, now."

* * *

Stiles was following Melissa as she led him to a room across the hall from the hospital's morgue.

"No one should bother you in here," she said as she led him inside.

"Good," he mumbled as he stepped in after her. He stopped when he saw that Chris Argent was already waiting in there. "Oh, great."

"Stiles," the man said to him a bit stiffly.

"Argent," Stiles said back to him. Stiles then moved to put his bag down. "You sure that it's a good idea for you to be wandering around in a public place like this? Someone might recognize you."

"I've gotten quite good at sneaking around unnoticed." He hadn't had much of a choice, seeing as how he was wanted by the FBI for questioning on the deaths of the Yakuza, the chaos left by the Nogitsune and recently was put under suspicion for the deaths of all their former hunters and the disappearance of his father. All of it an indirect courtesy of this young man here.

Melissa could cut the new tension that fell into this room with a knife. "Uh, when exactly does this crazy plan start?"

Stiles went to look at his watch. "Should be any minute now."

She sighed. "Then I should go on and get myself ready when they wheel in my son's dead body," she slurred out. She was about to head out but stopped before she made it out the door. "And please, try and behave yourselves."

When she left, Stiles turned to look back at Argent who was staring stiffly back at him. After a moment, Stiles just sighed and moved to begin taking out the computers from his bag and begin setting them up. "Do you have what we need to tap into the hospital's feed?" he grunted out.

"Yeah. It's right here." He then held up a small black digital box. "All I have to do is install it into the circuit boards up on the roof."

"Good."

"You just need to run the program to access it. Here, I'll show you." Chris moved to go over to him but Stiles stiffened and seemed ready to defend himself which made Chris freeze in his tracks. "You can relax Stiles. I'm not going to hurt you."

Stiles closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Sorry, but the last time you and I got close in this place was when you held a gun to my throat so forgive me for being a little defensive."

Chris nodded his head a bit. "Of course. But, if this is going to work, then we're going to have to trust each other this time."

"Yeah well, given everything my friends and I have been through lately, my trust of hunters is even less than it used to be. And there wasn't much to begin with so excuse me if I don't."

Chris narrowed his eyes in slight anger. "These people that you and your friends have run into aren't hunters. They're heartless killers whose only motivation and loyalty is to the money to be made from the kill. Hunters don't do that." He didn't want him and especially his daughter to be compared to these people.

Stiles nodded. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Hunters are heartless psychopaths all for free. They like to torture and terrorize their victims before they kill them. Thanks for clearing that up."

Stiles went back to setting the computers up but he felt Chris put something down next to him. He thought it was the router, but it wasn't. It was a card. One that had a compressed double spiral cut into it. The one that he had left outside the Calaveras' place.

"You should be more careful Stiles." That made the boy turn to look at him and Chris eased up. "I don't say that as a threat. It's a warning."

Stiles looked from the card back to him. "Really?"

"You lit quite a fire under some dangerous people Stiles and they are ones that you don't want to have as enemies, believe me."

"Thanks for tip but I have more than enough experience dealing with having enemies like them, remember? You and your cronies taught me how people like them already are. Argent. Calavera. Seen one hunter, you've seen them all."

Just then, Chris felt a tingle from the scars on his arm that he received from Stiles' claws. The night that they had captured and tortured the boy. "I'm not like them Stiles. My family was nothing like them."

Stiles' ears twitched as he heard his heart jump a bit. "Yeah, well maybe you should make yourself believe it first before you try to convince anyone else, outside Scott anyway. He didn't see it, or maybe he did but is pretending he didn't. But being around them, Araya, Severo, and everything they did to us…dejavu." Stiles then looked out the window. He could hear sirens starting to head for them. "Looks like it's showtime."

Chris then reached over and took the card back and put it in his jacket before he moved to install the program on the computer farthest away from Stiles.

* * *

An ambulance pulled into the front of Beacon Memorial Hospital and the paramedics moved to get the gurney out of the back. Liam's stepfather was alerted and moved to intercept and his eyes widened when he saw the patient that was on it. Scott McCall, the one that had brought his son in when he had been hurt during lacrosse tryouts. They went into one of the hospital rooms as he moved to try and get Scott's heart starting again. Chest compressions, and small shocks but nothing was working. The long beep from a flatlined heart monitor kept blaring in all of their ears. Finally, the man gave up and asked for one of the nurses to call it. After the time of death was made he then asked for Melissa McCall to be paged. When she had met up with him, he had given her the news and her shrieks carried out through a good part of the floor. He tried to comfort her through her hysteria and suggested that she go and have some time alone with her son.

Melissa managed to pick herself up and head for the morgue where she saw that Stiles, Kira, Liam and Noshiko were already there with Scott's body on the metal table. She wiped herself clean and walked over to them.

"I still hate this plan," she said to them. Her eyes went on to her son's body. "I mean, this is all so significantly terrifying. He looks dead."

Stiles, Kira and Liam were all looking down at Scott's body and they agreed full heartedly with Melissa. Scott didn't look like he was simply asleep. He was pale and there was no sign that he was even breathing. For all intended purposes, he really looked like a corpse.

"Give me your hand," Noshiko said as she reached for it.

Melissa looked over at Stiles as he nodded. "It's okay," he told her.

Her hand was then brought over Scott's heart but there was nothing. No feeling of his heart and his skin seemed to be cooling down.

"Wait for it," Noshiko told her when she saw her distress peaking.

Melissa settled and soon enough felt a small thump from Scott's heart. It wasn't strong and it wasn't going at a normal human speed, but the heart beat was there. "Is that enough to keep a werewolf alive?"

"Enough for an Alpha," Noshiko told her.

"How long do we have?"

"45 minutes."

"What happens after that?"

"I bring him back the same way," said Kira.

"No, I mean what happens if he stays like this for longer than 45 minutes?"

At that, the three teenagers shared some awkward looks.

"No one's told her?" Noshiko asked them.

"What?" asked Melissa. "What happens after 45 minutes?" She looked at all of them but let her stern gaze rest on Stiles, silently demanding that one of them give her an answer.

Noshiko answered her. "He dies."

"That won't happen," Stiles told her. He then brought out his watch to show that there was a stopwatch running backwards on it. His eyes went over to Kira. "Kira, make sure that you're here at least three minutes before time is up and revive him."

"What if the Benefactor hasn't shown up yet?" she asked him.

"Doesn't matter. Be here by then and revive him, okay?" Kira nodded. "Alright, I better go and see that Argent sends the message. Liam, wait with Kira for me at the room we set up. I'll be there as soon as the Benefactor is IM'd."

Liam nodded. "Okay."

The three of them each spared Scott one last look. Stiles went to give his wrist one last squeeze before he took off. Liam went to wait by the door as Kira moved to give Scott a small kiss on the top of his forehead before exiting the room with Liam while Melissa and Noshiko looked after them.

"We better go too," Noshiko told her. "If their plan is to work, we can't be here for the Benefactor to find."

Melissa went and sniffed her nose but nodded. "Right." She then took a deep breath before she went and pushed Scott's slap into the locker and then tried not to cry as she slid the door shut.

* * *

Scott found himself in some kind of dark room. He soon saw that he was in some kind of small metal tunnel and he didn't have any clothes on. He looked around and saw that there was a path ahead of him and he started to crawl down it to try and get out of there. When he reached the end, he found himself falling out onto the floor of the school hallway. He had fallen out of a locker and was wearing clothes again. He started to pick himself up and wander around.

"Catch." All of a sudden, Scott moved to catch a flying lacrosse ball that was heading for him. He looked over and saw Liam standing there, in his lacrosse gear. "That's why you're team captain," he said to him before he took off down the hall.

Scott dropped the ball and went after him as he went into a classroom. Scott followed him in but saw no sign of Liam anywhere. But he did find that there was a laptop on and wide open on the teacher's desk. He made his way to it and saw that there was some kind of program running on it. The screen was running with code before it asked for a keyword. Scott found himself typing his own name in and the program decrypted a list.

 **The Mute**

 **The Orphans**

 **The Bomber**

 **The Chemist**

It was a list of all the assassins that had already come for him and his friends. Suddenly, a hand reached over and pushed a button. The names suddenly had checkboxes next to them. Scott looked over and saw that it was Stiles, also dressed in his lacrosse gear too.

"It's a hit list," Stiles said as he turned to calmly face him. "Names for us to cross off."

Scott shook his head as he looked down at the list. "I can't kill them."

"Somebody has to," said Liam who stood at Scott's other side.

"Why me?" Scott asked.

"Because you're the Alpha," Liam said as if it was obvious.

Scott shook his head. "I'm not a murderer."

"But you are a predator," Liam calmly argued back.

"Well, yeah, we're predators but we don't have to-" Liam looked at him skeptically before he turned to look over his shoulder. Scott turned to look at Stiles who was rolling his eyes at him. "We don't have to," he said to him sternly.

"Have to, what?" Stiles slurred out. "Protect ourselves? Protect each other? That is what wolves do. Protect and look out for our pack, no matter what or who tries to hurt them."

"We can do it without killing," Scott told him.

"Can we?" He looked back at the list. "Against them? Look at them," he asked making Scott look at the names again. "How will you stop them? How will you save us? Your father had to kill, to save me." His eyes narrowed pointedly. "Would you?" Stiles then went to push a button on the computer.

Scott kept his gaze at the screen and watched as the names started getting crossed out. One by one. As soon as the last name got crossed, Scott went and slammed it shut. But then he heard a noise behind him and saw that Liam was on the floor. He was hissing in agony as he had a bloody gash on his back. Above him was The Mute. His tomahawk was wet with Liam's blood as he was gazing down at him with no mercy in his gaze. He turned to look at Scott and moved his finger to where his lips would be in a shushing movement.

"Scott," Liam cried out to him. "Scott, please." His eyes were desperate and scared. "Save me."

The Mute then looked down at Liam and raised his tomahawk for him. Scott found himself unable to move as it went over his head. He then moved to bring it down on Liam's head but stiffened halfway through his strike. A clawed hand was peaking out of the man's chest before it pulled itself free. The Mute's corpse then fell to the floor revealing Stiles standing behind him. Scott looked down to see that Stiles' hand was wet with The Mute's blood and drops were falling from the tips of his claws.

"I guess not," Stiles mumbled. He then raised his head to look at Scott with his bright blue eyes shining through. "But I will."

Scott found himself unable to tear his eyes away from them, no matter how much he wanted to.

* * *

Stiles met up with Argent in the hospital's basement and he told him that they were now ready for Phase 2. They brought up the Deadpool's network and Argent sent the message. Scott McCall Dead. Payment Requested.

Stiles' eyes lit up. "That's it? That's your assassin speak?"

"What? I said he's dead. What more do you want?"

"No, it was just a little dry. I always pictured you guys always swapping kill stories with more of an artistic but sociopathic flair."

Argent just huffed at him before there was a response from the Benefactor. It asked for Visual Confirmation. Stiles and Argent both moved for the computer and Stiles stiffened and went alert again as they got close. Argent decided to just let the boy be at computer.

"Type this," he told him and Stiles moved to begin. "Visual Confirmation isn't possible. Police coming to claim body in forty minutes."

They waited but the Benefactor's response simply was that Visual Confirmation was required for payment again.

"Damn it," Stiles muttered.

"Tell him this," Argent said straightening up. "Number one on the list is dead. I killed him and if the wire transfer isn't completed in forty minutes-"

Argent then pushed Stiles out of the way and moved to push Stiles out of the way and he went to type in: I'm Coming After You.

Stiles tilted his head. "Now that's more like it."

They waited but there was no response. They supposed that meant that the Benefactor was moving to check on the body after all. That meant it was time for Phase 3. Stiles left to rendezvous back with Liam and Kira while Argent went to patch into the hospital's security system. He went to the roof and installed transmitter in the router on the roof. Once it was in, he called Stiles.

"Try it now."

Stiles then opened the three computers that they had ready and started the program up. Instantly, the screens were lit up with the footage from all the cameras the hospital had. All the entrances, the halls, and especially the morgue.

"Phase 3 complete," he said back to Argent before he hung up. "Now we move into Phase 4."

"What's Phase 4?" asked Liam.

"Wait for the Benefactor to take the bait, then we spring the trap and catch him," Stiles said before looking over at him resolutely.

Liam smiled a bit. He couldn't help it, this was a little exciting.

Kira noticed. "Yeah, I know," she told him. "Kind of awesome." She could still remember her first time being in on one of Scott and Stiles' plans. It had been terrifying but was also exciting and this time was no different. She just hoped that Scott would be around for them to have another one.

* * *

Derek was getting his wound patched up by Braeden. He had his shirt off as she placed a bandage over his side wound after she treated it.

"It's just a graze but make sure it doesn't get infected," she said as she finished. "That's probably something you never had to worry about before. Is it?"

Derek moved to shake his head as he threw his shirt back on. "No," he mumbled. He never had to worry about cuts staying on him for longer than a few hours. Everything always healed quickly for him growing up.

"So, it's everything then. No glowing eyes. No healing."

"Smell, hearing, speed, everything," Derek finished for her. For all intended purposes, he was human now. Normal. Derek took a moment to take that fact in. Being normal. He remembered when he had told his mother that he hated being part of this family. Because he couldn't be normal and worry about normal things like playing in his last basketball game in the season. Now he didn't have his family or his powers like he had wished for that summer so long ago. He got what he had wanted…and he would give anything to take it all back.

"Strength?" Braeden asked as he had left that one bit out.

"I can still win a fight," he quickly snipped.

Braeden just looked at him skeptically before she moved to put her arm on the table. Derek let a small laugh out. He wondered if Braeden was serious about actually arm wrestling him. But Braeden wasn't backing down so he decided to go and humor her. He bent down and locked fingers with her.

"You ready?" she asked.

"Mmm-hmm," he nodded.

She smiled. "One. Two" She then moved to push his wrist down, hard.

Derek let a pained groan out. "Hey, you cheated. That's cheating!"

"I won. When you're a human facing off against a supernatural, you need to bend the rules a little bit. I'm going to teach you how to bend."

Derek's eyes rose up a bit.

* * *

Chris Argent was watching the entrance to the morgue from down the hall, patiently. He checked his watch and saw that there was roughly 28 minutes left before Scott's time was up. That didn't leave much time for the Benefactor to finally show up. He knew that he was still a prime suspect in Sheriff Stilinski's mind. He had paid a visit to his father and asked what he knew about The Benefactor and his Deadpool. He feigned surprise at this news but Chris could tell that Gerard was not ignorant to the situation currently going on in Beacon Hills. He knew about the Deadpool but he didn't know who started it. Gerard calmly denied being involved or being the Benefactor. He had told Chris that whoever it was must have more reservations about the supernaturals in the area than he did if he went through all the trouble of robbing millions from the Hales so as to use it for this crusade. Robbing specifically from the Hales would also suggest that it might be someone with a personal axe to grind with them. While, so far, those reasons didn't lift suspicion, Gerard also pointed out that it was also someone probably desperate, to resort to appeal to people's greed to see to their goal which he was not. That seemed to satisfy Chris' suspicions but left him with new things to mull over about. For starters, who would be desperate to kill all the supernaturals in this town and why? All the possible conclusions seemed more worse and terrifying than the last. He just hoped that tonight brought him some answers.

Melissa was sitting in Noshiko's car with her in the parking lot as they kept watch over the main entrance.

Noshiko pointed to a man in a sweater walking in. "What about him?"

Melissa gave the man a look but shook his head. "No, he's in here every week with a new self diagnosis."

"Hypochondriac?" Noshiko guessed.

"Prescription Drug Addict," Melissa told her. She checked her timer that was ticking to her son's death. "Why are we doing this? Why are we asking them to fight these kinds of fights?"

"Because otherwise we'd be asking them to run and hide."

* * *

Malia made her way to the school sign and went to unlock the Hale Vault with her claws. She went down the steps and let herself walk around the empty room. As she looked at the contents of the shelves, she didn't really know what she was even looking for. She felt her side vibrating and she went to pull out her phone to see that Stiles was calling her, again. A part of her wanted to answer it. Wanted to hear him, speak to him, to see him. But, she found herself putting it away. She couldn't talk to him. Not to anyone. Not until she found out just who she even was. She felt that the answer might lie in here, somewhere.

Her eyes then fell upon the vault in the middle of the room. The one that had the bearer bonds that were stolen by The Benefactor. She made her way to it and tried to open it. It was sealed shut. She then started to put more force into her pull and kept going until she yanked the handle of the safe off. She then opened it to find that there was a folder lying inside. She picked it up to see that it was labeled as: Malia Tate – Adoption Records. She was about to open it when she heard something behind her. She quickly turned around and spotted Peter Hale on the opposite side of the room.

Peter looked a little thrown seeing her. His eyes went to the safe behind her as he saw that it had been broken open. "I got to buy a better safe." He made his way over to her, looking down at the envelope she was carrying. "I can't let you leave with that."

She narrowed her eyes at him. At Peter Hale…her father.

"Maybe you won't have a choice," she said, standing her ground.

He rolled his eyes at her. "Is that right?" He then moved to step around her and they began to circle each other.

"I can take you."

He stopped at tilted his head a bit. "You've heard rumors that I'm not as strong as I used to be."

"A few but even if I hadn't I know I can still take you." The truth was that Malia had spent quite a few of her nights with Stiles doing many things. Besides running and sleeping together, they would have some sparring matches in the woods. The first few times they tried, Malia thought it was too easy for her to win and she asked for Stiles to not hold back with her, or she would kick his ass for real. That brought the number of times she would win down considerably but the margin of how badly she would lose began to get thinner as time went on. And she knew that a coward and weakened Peter was definitely no Stiles.

But Peter just smirked at her and then thrust his fist back into a pillar. It cracked apart on impact and Peter was no worse for wear at all. "Sure about that?" Malia sighed and then moved to hand the folder to him. But Peter didn't take it. "I said that you couldn't leave with it. I never said that you couldn't read it."


	16. Time of Death part 2

Chapter 16: Time of Death part 2

Stiles was calmly watching the security monitors with Liam and Kira.

"How much time do we have left?" Liam asked as he nibbled nervously at one of his knuckles.

Stiles looked at his watch to see that there was less than twenty minutes left on the clock. "Not a lot," he told him. "If the Benefactor is going to show up, then it should be any minute now." His nose twitched when he felt a wave of fresh anxiety pour out of Kira. He knew what was bothering her. "Hey," he said lightly to her. "Don't worry. He'll be fine."

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Yeah," she said as she breathed out and opened her eyes back up.

Kira looked over and gave him a soft look which Stiles returned with a soft smile. He then looked over back at the screens and saw that one of them began to get fuzzy.

"Is that supposed to look like that?" Liam asked him.

Stiles felt his nerves light up. "No, no it's not."

"Where is that?" Kira asked him.

"That's the roof. Someone's going to have to go check it out."

Kira pulled back. "I'll go."

"Whoa," Stiles said stopping her. "This might not just be a malfunction."

She then held out her sheathed sword. "I'll bring this."

"Okay. But, make sure you come right back," he told her sternly. "Remember, you still have to wake Scott up."

She nodded. "I know." She then moved to head to the roof.

Liam jumped. "I'm coming with you."

"Liam," Stiles said to him sternly.

Liam found himself stopping mid-step. "I got this," he said resolutely.

Stiles sighed but nodded. "Alright," he said and Liam eagerly took off to catch up with Kira. "But you're coming back here, both of you. Immediately!" he called out after them. Stiles then let himself sigh and shake his head with a tired grin on his face. "Ahh, kids," he sighed fondly.

* * *

Lydia was at the boathouse, looking through everything for some kind of lead. Ever since she realized that Meredith had been here at the lake house, she had started searching it from top to bottom for something to explain why. As she started going through the shelves, she heard something behind her. She feared that it was an assassin coming to kill her and went to grab an oar she saw was lying next to her. She then quickly spun around, to swing at her attacker.

But, it wasn't an assassin. It was her mother.

"Oh God!" her mother shrieked as she jumped back and tried to shield herself.

"Mom," Lydia gasped out. "What are you doing?"

"What are you doing?" she asked back.

Lydia sighed and went to put the oar down. "Nothing." But then she narrowed her eyes. "How did you know I was here? Did you follow me?"

"No," she said shaking her head. "I'm getting ready for the open house tomorrow."

"The open house is next week," Lydia reminded her.

Her mom sighed. She had been caught. "Okay, I followed you." Her daughter rolled her eyes and she suddenly got defensive. "Honey, you come up here every weekend. Sometimes even during the week and as far as I could tell there isn't a boy involved, so I really have no clue what you're up to."

Lydia sighed. "I'm trying to figure something out. Something important. Honestly mom," she started to chuckle. "You don't have to be involved in every single detail of my life."

Her mother nodded. "No, but I'd like to help if I can."

Lydia considered it for a moment. All this searching by herself had gotten her nowhere. She was literally lost on where to try and look for answers now. Maybe her mother might have some for her. She went over and showed her the picture of Meredith. "Do you know her?"

She looked at the photo and her face fell a bit before looking back up. "Meredith Walker?"

Now Lydia's face fell. "How do you know Meredith?"

"Well, I didn't. Your grandmother did." Her mom then went over to a cupboard, reached in and pulled out an urn. "These are your grandmother's ashes."

Lydia's eyes stayed on the urn. "Grandma died…in Eichen House."

"Your father had a difficult relationship with his mother. But, after the things she said and the way she acted-"

"He thought she was crazy," Lydia finished for her.

"Well, she said she heard things."

Lydia's face paled a bit. For the longest time, she wondered why. Why was she a banshee? Why did Peter's bite not turn her into a werewolf and seemed to make her into a banshee? Peter said that he had a hunch. That hunch must've been her grandmother. She had to have been a banshee herself. She inherited her powers from her grandmother.

She took a deep breath. "Why would she want her ashes in here?"

"Well, actually she didn't. She left instructions to have them spread across the lake."

Lydia looked over at the lake behind her. "Why haven't you done it?"

"Because she wanted you to do it. When you turned 18. Don't ask me why. But, since there are only a few weeks left. I suppose now's a good a time as any."

Lydia reached over and slowly took the urn from her mother. She twisted the cap off and looked inside but her face pulled back when she saw what it was. "Mom, these aren't grandma's ashes."

She looked at Lydia taken aback. "What do you mean? Of course they are."

Lydia shook her head. "No." She then took some and poured some back in. "It's mountain ash." Lydia then took some and threw it for the lake but none of it touched the water. It all moved to become part of the edge of the lake house. Lydia had seen this before. "The whole building. It's all made of mountain ash," she realized.

* * *

Scott found himself waking up back inside the small metal tunnel as before. He crawled over for where he spotted some light and found himself falling out of a locker, again in the high school. He made his way down the hall, looking around though not knowing what to look for.

"Catch!" Scott reached out and caught the flying lacrosse ball like before. However, this time his hand had sprouted out claws as he caught it. He then looked over and spotted Liam again. "That's why you're the captain."

"Yeah." Scott turned around to find that Stiles was behind him and was smiling calmly at him. "Maybe it's time to stop resisting what you are."

Scott blinked and found himself facing a mirror in the locker room. He opened his mouth to see that his fangs were out, but they were different from how he remembered. He noticed both Stiles and Liam behind him, staring at the reflection.

"There's something different, isn't there?" asked Liam.

"I've got more fangs," Scott said as he kept his eyes on his teeth. "I noticed it during the quarantine. I don't know why."

"Maybe it's part of being an Alpha," Liam shrugged. "Maybe you're becoming more of a werewolf?"

"Or more of a monster." Scott then closed his jaws so he couldn't stare at his changed fangs.

"You're not a monster, you're a werewolf," Stiles quoted.

"You could just be getting stronger," said Liam. "What if you're growing?"

Stiles nodded. "And you need to grow. Can't be worried about making first line and wanting to be normal forever."

Suddenly, Liam fell forward and Scott caught him in his arms. He then saw Stiles turn around in time for something to swipe quickly at him and blood to spray everywhere. Scott looked down to see that there was a tomahawk in Liam's back and looked up to see Stiles slowly turning back to look at him with his throat torn open. Stiles then collapsed and Scott let go of Liam. Both of them stayed motionless on the floor, blood running from where they had been wounded. Scott then looked back up to see The Mute, holding a bloodied tomahawk in his hand. His other hand was raising a finger to make a shushing movement.

* * *

Kira and Liam were running up the stairs for the roof.

"What do you think happened to the camera?" Liam asked her.

"Don't know. Could be anything?"

They both caught sight of the door to the roof but Liam grabbed Kira before she could push it open.

"Wait," he gasped out.

She stopped and looked at him.

Liam's eyes narrowed. "I…I hear something." His ears twitched as his hearing started to reach out and listen through the whole span of the roof. He focused on the sounds, just like Stiles had showed him early that morning, and could hear some shuffling not too far away. "I think there's someone out there."

"What? Who?"

Liam let himself try to pick up a scent. He went on the lookout for the smell of gunpowder with metal mixed in to see if they had a gun, even looked out for wolfsbane. Neither of them were out there. "Something smells funny." What he was picking up was an unusual scent. It smelled like something was rotting or decaying. It smelled…dead.

Just then, there was a loud bang that made the two of them jump.

"Well, I heard that," Kira gasped as she moved to unsheathe her sword and push the door open.

The two of them saw that the generator was smoking as it seemed to have blown up.

"What happened to it?" Liam asked as his eyes followed the sparks that were flying about.

There was then a deep growling sound and they turned in time to see a Berserker slowly moving towards them.

Kira quickly got into a defensive pose. "That," she breathed.

Liam's eyes widened at the creature. "What is that? Another assassin?"

"Worse."

The Berserker stopped advancing and seemed to be sizing them up. Liam looked down at his fingers where its claws were moving slightly as if itching to find their way into them. Liam felt himself heating up and he quickly shifted as he faced the behemoth down. He then roared and moved to swipe at the thing with its claws. The creature shrugged his attack off and Liam quickly tried another swipe but the Berserker caught it. With its other hand it reached for his throat and lifted him off his feet. Liam found he couldn't move and it tossed him across the roof where he bounced off the fence and landed, hard, on the concrete.

Kira tightened her grip on her sword and moved onto the attack herself. She got three good strikes in but it seemed to do little but scratch the Berserkers bony armor. It then blocked her fourth strike before taking its fist and driving it right at her head, making her drop to the floor with a pained scream. She found herself barely conscious of everything going around her and suddenly found herself in Scott's room earlier that day. They were lying together on his bed and calmly facing one another after they had made out with each other.

" _It's a good plan. You're not worried are you?"_

" _Just thinking," he mumbled._

" _About what?"_

" _That we've never actually been a real date."_

 _True, they hadn't. "There hasn't been time," she reminded him._

" _We can make time," he said perking up a bit._

" _Even though people are dying all around us?"_

" _Okay, maybe after that."_

" _We could…see a movie. I haven't seen a movie in like forever."_

 _He smiled widely. "That sounds like a plan."_

" _It's a good plan," she sighed._

 _They then moved to kiss each other again._

"Kira! Kira, get up!"

Kira woke up from her daze to find herself back on the roof and the Berserker was closing in on her. She looked over to see that Liam was back on his feet and breathing heavily.

Liam just stared the creature down. It looked no worse for wear and had just taken both of them down with nothing but a small scratch for all of its trouble. It turned it skull covered face to him and Liam was finding himself feeling scared. Fear that only seemed to jump when they heard a second set of heavy footsteps. He looked and saw that another Berserker was on the roof and was stomping for them.

Kira went to grab for her sword and held it up at the ready but was backing away slowly. She heard Liam breathing even harder and then jump up on top of one of the transformers. "Liam!" she shouted at him.

Liam just roared and moved to pounce on the nearest Berserker.

* * *

Malia was looking at the file as Peter stood silently off to the side. Malia saw her birth certificate. She saw that there was even a photo of herself as an infant attached. She let her eyes linger on the image for a while before she looked to the other side. There was an adoption form there but there was a giant and blood-stained hole in the middle of it. However, she could clearly make out the Adoption Approved stamp that was on it. She then sighed and set it down to face him.

"Want to talk about it? See a family counselor?" Peter shrugged.

"There's nothing in there."

He narrowed his eyes at her. "It cost me a lot of money to get that file."

"You got ripped off."

Peter couldn't help but have his eyes brighten up after that. "You know what happens when you only hear one side of the story? You've only heard one side of the story."

Malia's face fell. "You murdered people. Not killed. Murdered. Innocent people."

"There were extenuating circumstances."

"Like what? The fire? That's what made you kill your own niece…my cousin and make you try to kill my other one," she added, verbally accepting the fact that Laura, Derek and Cora Hale were her cousins. "They were hurt by the fire too but they didn't go off and start killing people left and right. Or how about you trying to kill Stiles and Scott too after trying to make them kill their friends. None of them were responsible for the fire."

He narrowed his eyes at her. "This is what I mean about only hearing one side of the story. You've heard a very biased version from your boyfriend, who is not exactly as good as he tries to make himself out to be. Try hearing one from your actual flesh and blood." Malia shrank a bit at his stern gaze and Peter loosened himself a bit but his eyes still were semi-hard. "The fire, it nearly burned me alive. Six years in a coma, do you know what that's like for one of us? It's not a pleasant sleep. Imagine being trapped in your body but being fully cognoscente. Unable to do anything but listen to your own thoughts slowly driving you absolutely and totally insane, minute by minute, day by day. Yes, I've done horrible and terrible things but so have a lot of other people. And horrible, terrible things are going to keep happening especially with a Deadpool with your name on it."

Malia then smirked at him. "But not yours," she pointed out.

That actually made Peter take a step back. He could see that this little fact was going to make problems, not only with Malia, but with everyone else on the Deadpool. Them being targeted while he wasn't by assassins wasn't really giving him too much benefit of the doubt. "True," he said trying to regain his composer. "But I'm not the Benefactor. I'm just the guy out millions of dollars and a few thousand which I used trying to help you."

"Me?" she said skeptically.

"How does the bad guy prove that he's not. By doing an act of kindness."

"What could you ever do for me?"

"Help you find your mother." That made Malia's face fall a bit. Peter shrugged. "I'm actually pretty interested myself as the memory was stolen from me by my sister Talia."

Malia was silent for a moment but nodded. "Okay. What did you find?"

"A woman, might be her," he started telling her. "I don't have a name yet, just a particularly interesting alias. She's called the Desert Wolf." He caught the look in Malia's eyes. "You know what that means."

Malia did. "Coyote."

* * *

The lights in the hospital all went down and the emergency lights came on everywhere. Melissa and Noshiko were moving through the hospital, quickly trying to get back to the kids.

"I take it that power doesn't go off often in this hospital?' she asked as she looked at all the people moving about in a panic.

"No, only when under attack by supernatural creatures," Melissa told her with the attacks of the Alpha Pack and Nogitsune frightfully coming back to her.

They made it back to the room to find that the three computers were all that were in there. All three of the kids were gone. They both shared a frightened look and moved to try and find them. They started to head off for the morgue, but they heard some screaming in the hall behind them. They watched as a nurse and then a doctor ran right passed them, scared out of their minds. Then a small child moved to run into a nearby room and shut the door behind him. A second later, they then heard a heavy thumping noise and then saw a Berserker, wet with blood, stomp in from around the corner.

"Are you still a kitsune?" Melissa asked Noshiko, remembering that her tails had all been lost.

"Technically," she told her.

But they backed up and started to run off and the Berserker took off after them. From the hall where the Berserker had come from, stepped someone that slowly and calmly was making their way towards the direction of the morgue.

* * *

Scott found himself in the dark and enclosed space again. He crawled his way to the opening where he fell into the hallway from the locker. He picked himself up and started to make his way down the hall.

"Catch." He turned around and caught the lacrosse ball. The one thrown by Liam, who was smiling at him. "That's why you're the captain."

Liam then ran off down the hall and Scott started to walk after him. He saw Liam turning into a cross section and a second later, Scott heard gunfire. Gunfire, swipes from blades, an explosion and then a roar. Scott calmly moved to get to that hall which was lighting up from the bullets being fired and deafening the area with those noises. When he was a few steps away, it all then stopped. He turned the corner and saw that the hallway had things scattered about. He could see Violet's thermal cut wire, Garrett's lacrosse stick with the blade and quite a few guns with bullet casings rolling about nearby. All of the weapons stained blood. He then noticed someone at the end of the hall, staring down at him. He let go of a tomahawk that clattered to the ground and scattered some blood. He then turned to face him and Scott saw that it was Stiles and he was in his lacrosse uniform, but wasn't wearing the gloves. His claws were out and they were covered in dried blood.

"What?" he asked him.

Stiles stared at him blankly. "They are coming for you. They are coming for all of us and will keep coming. When it comes down to it, will you be ready to do what you may have to?"

Scott stared at his bloody claws. "I can't."

"Then you'll die. Your pack will die. All that need you will die."

Stiles looked over Scott's shoulder and he turned around. It was Liam, lying on his back with bullet holes and Garrett's blade stuck in his heart. One hand grasping it and the other on his throat where there was a deep red line and he was staring back at Scott with dead eyes.

Scott shook his head and quickly turned away. "No. I won't let that happen."

Stiles was now right in front of his face. "But it already happened, more than once, and will keep happening. They won't stop, until they're made to stop. They're not just going to go away. You have to fight, with everything you've got."

"I will."

"How can you?" Stiles then savagely grabbed Scott's hand, pulling it up and squeezing it making Scott cringe in pain and forcing him to expose his claws so that they could see them at eye level. "When you're too busy fighting yourself."

The next thing Scott knew, he was hearing a loud scratching noise. A piece of chalk was sliding across a blackboard as a triskelion was being drawn on it. Scott saw that he was in an empty classroom save for Stiles at the board and Liam sitting in one of the desks at the front row. When the final spiral was drawn, Stiles turned to Liam with a stern look on his face.

"Alpha, Beta, Omega," chanted Liam.

Stiles narrowed. "Yes, but what does it mean?" he asked in a lecturing tone.

"Omegas can rise to Betas. Even become Alphas," Liam answered softly. He then turned to look at him. "Like you, right Scott?"

Scott nodded. "Yeah." He then revealed his red eyes.

"But," Liam said before turning back to Stiles. "It also means that Alphas can fall to Betas. Even become Omegas."

Stiles nodded and turned to him. "Becoming an Alpha, Scott that's only half of it. Being one, that's the other. Not only to your enemy but for your beta. But you keep trying to resist it." His face softened at him. "You can't be a teen wolf forever Scott." he said lightly.

Liam slowly stood up from his seat. "Not you, not him, and not me."

Stiles started walking away from the board and over to Liam. "It's not enough just having those eyes Scott, you have to want it. Want it, want us, want him," he said tilting his head Liam's direction. "Want all of it. Because you better believe that there will be others that want it and come to take it and they won't be asking you nicely. Keep trying to resist it, keep trying to run and hide from it-" Scott suddenly felt a pressure in his heart that made him stagger backwards until his back hit the wall. One hand grasp at his chest while the other covered his eyes. They felt like they were burning and his breath got caught in his lungs like he was having an asthma attack. He removed his hand and reached to them, exposing his pleading red eyes, but Stiles and Liam were just staring back. Scott rose his head up and the red glow faded away until they were his normal human color. "Then you lose it," Stiles finished blankly. "You'll lose it all."

The classroom door opened and revealed the Mute, with his tomahawk at the ready. He came in and stood next to where Scott was lying on the floor but treated him as he was invisible and stared Stiles and Liam down. "A teen wolf won't stop me."

Liam stiffened up as he faced the Mute unflinchingly. "But an alpha wolf can."

Stiles lifted his head to reveal his glowing red eyes as he calmly faced the assassin unflinchingly. He then turned to Liam who flashed his yellow eyes back the moment his red eyes made contact. Stiles gave him a nod before turning on the Mute and he ran at the enemy with Liam behind him, leaving Scott there, watching helplessly.

* * *

Chris Argent was quickly moving to the room when he saw rapid movement at the corner of his eye. He quickly turned and brought out his gun when he felt the hand gripping it getting thrust back and claws at the side of his neck. His eyes widened as saw that it was Stiles and the boy let out a small sigh when he saw that it was him and then let him go.

"Sorry, reflex," Stiles mumbled as he backed away a step.

Chris went to pocket his gun. "Of course," he mumbled back as he rubbed at his wrist. "What's happening?"

"The power went out for the whole building and I lost the cameras. So I was heading over here to protect Scott's body."

"Well then stay with him. Text me if you see or hear anything."

He then checked his watch to see that there was 18 minutes left. He then left Stiles to try to see what was going on.

As for Stiles he ran back over to where Scott's body was sitting. He guessed the Benefactor was making his move. Whatever it was, he would be ready for it, and hopefully put an end to all of this.

As he stood guard in front of it, he suddenly felt a pressure on his chest. He held his hand to it for a moment before his eyes went up at the roof. "Liam," he mumbled. His ears branched out and he heard a scream of pain. "Kira." They were in trouble and he quickly moved to call Argent as he saw there was only 16 minutes left. He had to make him stand guard so he could go and help the two of them and make sure Kira got back to Scott in time. He was practically bouncing as the phone did nothing but ring. "Come on Argent, answer the phone," he huffed to himself. "Answer the phone." There was another dial tone. Argent had made it sound like he would be on the alert for his call and now it was like he was ignoring him. "Why the hell are you not answering the phone?"

He got his answer when Argent was thrown through the morgue doors a moment later.

"Stiles! Run!" he called out to the boy.

But Stiles only moved to make sure that his back covered the locker to Scott's body. He looked over to see Kate Argent stepping through the doors.

She looked over at him. "Get out of the way Stiles. I'm taking the body."

He narrowed his eyes at her. "Why? Visual Confirmation?" he asked. This all seemed a little too convenient. Argent moved to stand next to him and his expression read that he was agreeing.

But the theory etched on his face only made Kate smile at him. "Oh, don't worry handsome. I'm not the Benefactor." She then started to move for him.

"Too bad." Stiles then moved to bring his claws out. "I would've loved to take care of two birds with one stone," he said with a glare.

Chris however, moved forward and held his hand out for Stiles to hold on. "What do you want with the body?" he asked his sister.

"I wish I could tell you." Chris moved to try and restrain her but she quickly moved and batted his hand away. However, he quickly pulled another gun out and held it under her chin with his other hand. She only smiled at him. "I always forget that you always carry two."

"Back off!" Chris said putting pressure into the gun and forcing it deeper into her throat.

"Sure you can pull that trigger fast enough?" she teased.

"I don't want to."

She called her brother's bluff. "You're not going to kill me."

"And I'm not going to let you take his body," he spat at her.

"If you're not going to do anything," Stiles huffed before he grabbed Chris by the shoulder, and then threw him to the other side of the room. "I will." Stiles could smell the fresh blood being spilled and wasn't going to let her get away with it. He glared at Kate as he let his blue eyes shine at her. "I'm not going to let you take his body or let you leave here in one piece."

Kate's lips upturned a bit to a flirting smile. "Wow, nice new peepers you got there Stiles. Want to see mine?" She then let her own green eyes glow at him and her claws started to extend. Stiles roared at her while Kate returned it and they moved for each other. Kate swiped at his chest but Stiles jumped back and it just missed connecting with him. He then moved to jump for the metal wall and bounced off it with one foot and quickly threw a hard punch that connected with her jaw. Kate staggered back a bit before she turned to reveal that her bottom lip was bleeding slightly. "Hitting a woman," she said with a joking tone. She moved her thumb to wipe the blood off with a smile. "You must like it rough. I know I do."

Stiles growled and moved to attack again but there was a shot that hit the wall next to him and forced him to jump back. The two of them turned and looked over to where Chris had picked himself back up on one knee. He was pointing the gun over at Stiles.

"The hell?!" Stiles shouted out at him.

Chris took a deep breath before he then moved it to point at Kate. "Enough!"

"That throw scramble your brain Chris?" Kate said as she widened her eyes at him. "Don't you think you have that pointed at the wrong person?" She then looked over at Stiles. "After all, I think we all know what made those eyes. Or rather, who?"

Stiles bared his teeth. "Shut up," he grumbled under his breath.

Kate smiled savagely at him. "Bet you wished you pulled that trigger a lot sooner. I know I do. And I'm sure your wife and daughter would if they could. Shame you missed. Must be out of practice."

"That's enough Kate," Chris cracked out as he started stepping towards her with his gun still locked on her. "You have to leave. Take the Berserkers and go!" he pleaded her.

"Not until I get what I came for."

"We have a plan. Try to remember that you're on that Deadpool too. Worth more than most."

"Well if killing Scott was part of your plan then you've obviously-" But she stopped right there. Stiles' watch was beeping and he looked over at it. Chris moved his wrist slightly to expose the timer running on his watch. One that was now down to less than three minutes. Kate now understood what was going on.

* * *

Braeden was taking some time to explain the weapons that she had on hand. She was telling him what model her handgun was when Derek just sighed.

"I don't like guns," he bluntly told her. And why would he? He's only had to run from them and see them pointed at him for half his life.

But Braeden just shrugged. "That's because you don't know how to use one."

"Or because I've been shot, repeatedly."

"You'll like this one." She then picked it up and showed him the clip. "The legal clip size in California is ten. You always want to remember how many shots you fire. Running out of bullets could get you killed. It also makes you look stupid," she added with a small smirk before she inserted the clip back in. She then handed it to him. "But using a gun isn't just about learning how to point and shoot."

"Why is that?"

"Because an average person can move 21 feet in 1.5 seconds. If they have a knife, they can gut you before you can point and fire. So, with a gun, you need distance." She then moved away from him a few paces. "Go for it. Pull the gun on me."

Derek just smirked at her as she stood and waited on him. Derek thought this was all a little silly but he decided to roll with it. He moved to point the gun at her but Braeden quickly grabbed at his wrist and slightly twisted it. His grip loosened and she moved to turn the gun around and take it from him. Now it was Braeden who was pointing the gun at him and Derek felt different. This wasn't the first time that a gun was pointed at him but he knew that if he was shot, it wouldn't heal.

He bowed his head as Braeden smirked back at him. "One more time," he said a bit more seriously than before.

"I can do this all day."

Derek raised his eyebrows at her and leaned in a little closer to her. She looked him up and down, silently daring him to make the next move. And he did. He moved to kiss Braeden and she eagerly returned it. After about two seconds, Derek had managed to snatch the gun from her hand and was now pointing it at her. Their faces were still close together though.

"You cheated," Braeden mumbled with her lips still rubbing against his.

Derek pulled away from her a bit. "Learning to bend," he said, reminding her of earlier when she beat him at arm wrestling.

They shared another small look before they started kissing again. Derek moved to yank Braeden up into the air as they continued to make out. As they kissed, Derek began to move Braeden for the table and set her down on it so he could begin to pull his shirt off. Braeden helped him with it before her hands ran down his muscled torso and they began kissing again. His hands moved over her smooth shoulders before grabbing at the bottom of her shirt and began to pull on them.

* * *

Again, Scott found himself in that same small space. He crawled for the exit and fell out of the locker onto the floor in the school hallway. He moved down the empty hall, not sure of what to find.

"Catch." Scott's reflexes kicked in and he caught what was thrown at him. But this time, it wasn't a lacrosse ball. It was a bloodied tomahawk. He then heard labored breathing and saw that Liam was lying by his feet with a large gash across his front. "Why'd you do that?" Liam screamed at him.

Scott then found someone reaching to take hold of his hand. "You don't know how, then let me help you." Scott looked back to see it was the Mute. "Let me show you," he told him before raising his hand so that the axe was hovering over their heads.

The Mute then brought Scott's hand down to get him to feel how to swing the tomahawk down properly. He then left Scott looking down at Liam who was staring fearfully at him. Scott then gave the tomahawk a final look before bringing it crashing down on Liam. He then picked it up and brought it down again. And again and again. Scott's thrusts became faster and more frenzied as he gave into the rush and heat of attacking Liam's body. He doesn't know how long it was but Scott stopped and found his face was stained with Liam's blood but he found himself not minding it in the least. Scott roared out and felt his new fangs through his lips but felt comfortable with them. He then looked over and saw Stiles standing there, staring at him blankly. Scott stood up from where he was kneeling and waved the tomahawk around. Stiles started to back up a few steps but that only made Scott take a few steps towards him. He then moved to pounce for him.

The next thing Scott knew, he was staring up at the faces of Kira, Stiles, and Argent as he gasped and shouted out in shock.

Stiles had gone to drag Kira to the morgue and revive him before his time was up. She quickly moved and began the process to revive Scott with none of the hesitation and doubt she had when she knocked him out.

Kira moved to embrace him. "It's okay," she quickly muttered to him as she tried to calm him. "It's okay." She then placed a small kiss on his lips and he calmly stared at her.

"What happened? Did it work?" he asked them.

The three of them just stared off at one another, with dismal looks on their faces, and Scott had his answer. But Liam then walked on in with a pained look on his face as he stared at Kira.

"What?" Kira asked him.

He sighed. "It's your mother. She's hurt."

Kira then moved to follow Liam while Stiles moved to give Scott some clothes to put on before he moved to catch up to them. That left Stiles alone in the room with Argent. The tension between them before, was now back. Stiles shut the slap door where Scott's body had been shut and moved to get his bag so he could go and collect back the laptops.

"Stiles," Argent called out before he could leave. Stiles still had his back to him though. "I just want you to know that what happened wasn't what it looked like. It wasn't personal. It was the only way to get my sister to listen."

"Right, whatever." Stiles said not sparing him a look. He then took a look around the room and gave a small chuckle.

"What is it?" Argent asked him.

Stiles didn't answer right away. Stiles realized that he and Argent have been in this room together before, exactly one year ago. This was where he and his hunters and pulled him and Jackson and he held a gun to his throat, just like he had done to Kate. However, while Argent had looked at him viciously as he held the gun on him, he had looked close to tears when he had the gun on her. Kate was right. He finally pulled the trigger, a year later. And it missed. Even though he was angry about the whole thing, he couldn't help but laugh at the irony. Argent called his name again and Stiles shook his head. "Nothing. Private joke."

Stiles stepped out of the morgue and took a deep breath that he didn't realize he was holding. He then looked back at the doors of the room and narrowed his eyes before whipping out his phone. He began to send a text. A very long text.

* * *

Derek woke up to find that Braeden wasn't in bed with him. He picked himself up and moved over for his table to see that Braeden had left most of her arsenal there. He moved to begin familiarizing himself with them.

* * *

Stiles was driving Liam back to his home after their failed mission at the hospital. Stiles looked over at Liam to see that the kid was nodding his head down, staring at his hands.

"You're quiet," he said as he moved to take a turn.

"Those things back at the hospital…what were they?" Liam asked as he slowly lifted his head to look at him. "They weren't like us. Those weren't werewolves."

Stiles sighed. "They're called Berserkers. They wear the skins and bones of animals to channel their power and ferocity."

Liam's eyes narrowed. "So wait, those were people? They're like us?"

Stiles quickly shook his head. "No Liam, they're not. The people that they once were are gone. They're as lifeless as the skin and bones they wear. No soul or conscience either. They're monsters. And they're led by an even bigger one."

"Back there, when I was on the roof, I…I couldn't do anything."

Liam looked back down at his hands and Stiles easily caught his depression and fear.

Stiles moved to tightly grip his shoulder. "Hey, Liam, it's okay."

But Liam shrugged his hand off. "No, Stiles it's not okay," he cried out. "I couldn't even land a single hit on them."

"Come on Liam, I only taught you for one day and we were covering the basics. I showed you how to make someone lose their handgun, not go up against seven-foot bone giants. You can't expect so much from yourself that fast. Rome wasn't built in a day and you won't become a good werewolf overnight."

Liam just sighed at that and turned to look out the window. "Well, I don't think I'm going to be much of one ever."

"Liam," Stiles started but Liam cut him off.

"You said that we got stronger when we were angry. When I saw Kira get hurt, I got really angry. I felt that sudden rush and could feel myself getting stronger. Just like when we tried to train me on shifting. I was so mad and all I wanted was to tear that thing apart and felt nothing was strong enough to stop me from doing it. I went and hurled myself at that thing, and it swung its arm and threw me into the wall like I was nothing. Okay?" Liam huffed as he turned to face him again. "I'm not strong or smart as you guys. I'm…useless."

Stiles eased back a bit. He could feel just how down Liam was on himself right now and shook his head. "Liam, hey come on, you're not useless."

"Yeah right," Liam mumbled as he moved to turn away again.

"Hey," Stiles moved to grab his shoulder to make him look back at him. "Listen Liam, you and Kira were on that roof and managed to keep those two Berserkers there near the whole time. Thanks to you, they weren't going through the hospital hurting and killing more people. If they were, who knows how many more could've been hurt or killed tonight. I think the people who might've run into those things if you hadn't been there, if they knew, would definitely say that you weren't useless. You probably helped save people tonight, and that means something. A big something."

Liam turned to look back at Stiles for a moment. He thought back and remembered that his stepdad was at the hospital tonight. He started to imagine him being one of the people Stiles was talking about. "Yeah, I guess," he mumbled.

"Liam, when you came to me for help what was one of the rules I set? One that you seem to be breaking now."

Liam stared for a moment before he took a deep breath and moved to look away from him. "No complaining if things get hard."

"Mmm, hmm," Stiles said nodding. "And I'm going to tell you right now Liam, I think things are only going to get harder."

Stiles was now driving down the street that would lead him straight to Liam's house when he looked up to see something at his rear-view window. Instantly, Stiles' spine went cold and he quickly moved to pull over.

The sudden move made Liam jump in his seat. "Stiles?!"

But Stiles didn't heed him. He quickly looked out the window and saw that car quickly move to make a turn at the cross section behind him. The tires of that car squeaked loudly as it did. Stiles popped his door open and ran for the turn but the only cars he saw where those already parked by the pavement or sitting in the driveways of the houses on the street.

"The hell," he mumbled. Stiles wasn't imagining it. Someone had been following him, probably since they left the hospital.

Liam was standing behind the jeep as it was still running. He pushed his arms out when Stiles was walking back. "What's going on?"

"We were being followed." Stiles told him as he headed back for the driver's seat.

"Seriously?" Liam's eyes nearly popped out as he went to look out in the direction that Stiles had gone. He then quickly hopped back into the jeep. "How do you know?"

Stiles began pulling them back onto the road. "There was a car that was keeping a steady distance from us for a while and the lights were off. It's pitch dark out here and they weren't driving with the lights on? No one does that unless they don't want to be noticed. And, when I pulled over all of a sudden, the driver quickly turned and drove off."

Liam turned to look behind them but didn't see anything as they kept driving. "So, who do you think it was?"

"Not sure, but, safe bet is that it's another assassin."

"Are you kidding me?"

"No, I'm going out of my way to mess with you right now," Stiles mumbled as he rolled his eyes at him.

Liam disregarded his sarcasm. "What are we going to do?"

"Well, if they're following me then the last thing I should do is show them where you live." Stiles then took a turn in the opposite direction. "Leaving you alone in your house right now might not be the best idea I've had tonight."

"Then where am I supposed to sleep if I can't go home?"

"Uh, you could stay at my place tonight. I'm sure my dad would be okay with it."

Stiles then drove off for his home and quickly parked his jeep in the driveway of his home. They stepped into the house and Liam went to take out his phone.

"I better call my mom. Let her and my stepdad know where I am so they don't worry."

Stiles was looking upstairs. "Yeah," he said as he kept his eyes up. He detected a presence upstairs and found a familiar scent. "Uh, go ahead and make yourself at home. There's some leftovers and juice in the fridge if you want." He then started to head on upstairs and calmly moved to his room and sighed when he saw Malia looking at the list of the Deadpool that was on his desk. "Hey," he said to her. She reacted to him but didn't tear her eyes from it. "Where have you been?" he softly asked.

"Talking to Peter."

"Okay, are you sure that's such a great idea?"

"If he can help me find my mother, then I don't think I care."

Stiles could see her staring hard at the Deadpool, and knew that she was looking at her name. Malia Hale. "You know, Peter might be your father but you're nothing like him. You care about people. He only ever cares about himself. You're not the same."

Malia finally tore her eyes from the paper. "I wouldn't be too sure about that."

"What? You mean because of how you were at the full moon?" She moved with the Deadpool for his board. "Or because you still blame yourself for what happened that night?" That made her stop in her tracks. "Malia, I told you, that wasn't your fault. You didn't kill your mom and sister that night."

"My adopted mother and sister you mean." She let out a sigh before turning back to face him. "There's something I didn't tell you about that night. Right before we got in the car my moth-…my adopted mother," she painfully corrected. "She and I got into a huge fight. I don't even remember what it was about, but I remember what I said."

Stiles heard the tremble in her voice and saw that she seemed close to crying. "Malia," he said moving for her.

"I said I wish you were all dead," she choked out.

Stiles quickly moved to be next to her. "Malia, that doesn't make it your fault."

"Maybe it does. I never cared about anyone before Stiles. Maybe that was because I am just like him. Maybe that's why someone came after us that night? To make sure that I didn't carry on the family tradition."

Malia then moved to hang the third part of the Deadpool on the board. She then moved to head out of the room but Stiles moved to grab her wrist. Malia looked up to the pleading look on Stiles' face as he held her hand in a soft grasp as he let his thumb rub across the skin above her wrist. He gave his head a shake, asking her with all his might not to leave. For a moment, it looked like she wouldn't, but she softly pulled away from him and backed out of his room. Stiles stared after her before he turned to look over at the Deadpool. At Malia's name with Hale being her surname.

Malia moved down the stairs, not even giving Liam a look as he tried saying Hi to her. She moved to head out of the house and closed the door behind her. She looked back over at the house, towards the window in Stiles' room to see that he was moving towards it. She wiped at her eyes and turned away as she moved to keep walking, trying hard not to look back. If she saw him again, she might want to head back inside, and she already wanted to do that so much. But someone was looking at Stiles at his window. Someone in a parked car across the street. Deputy Haigh.

He looked down at the printout in the seat next to him that had his name printed on it with a ten right next to it. When the department was called about disturbances at the hospital, Haigh had gone there and spotted the jeep that he knew belonged to the Sheriff's kid. He knew that the Sheriff was staying at the hospital to oversee what had happened there, so he made an excuse to leave when he spotted his kid leaving. He planned to follow him back to his home where he knew that he would be alone and get the jump on him there, though he was a little confused why the boy was in a neighborhood on the wrong side of town. He knew that the Stilinski's house wasn't around there. He followed after him anyway as he wanted to catch him when he was alone and not run the risk of people seeing that he had been around the house beforehand. But when the jeep suddenly pulled into park, Haigh had seen that the Sheriff's kid was catching onto him. He had turned quickly and drove into the nearest driveway he could see and quickly turned his engine off to try to blend in and hide. He saw that the young Stilinski had run to check the block out himself but it didn't look like he spotted him but he could see that the teen was freaked. But he saw that it seemed to make him come straight back home as he saw that the Jeep was now there in the driveway. He then saw that there was a girl making her way out of the house and guessed that the boy might've been giving her a lift home but the plans had changed. Haigh waited until she was far enough away and then moved to get a crowbar lying in wait at his backseat. He then looked to the house to see that one of the lights downstairs suddenly turned on, but he saw that Stiles was still looking out the window in his room.

"Damnit," Haigh breathed. That had to mean that there was someone else in the house. Haigh couldn't do this now. Not with the risk of being seen. He then looked down at the paper with the 12 names on it and his eyes fell on the name at the bottom. Jordan Parrish. He shrugged. "Alright then," he said as he restarted his car and moved to pull out. He would aim lower first. Besides, he had a little score to settle with the newbie deputy.

* * *

Argent was at his hideout, checking his supply of guns, one by one. His eyes fell onto a map that was laid out on a table when he heard a small creak behind him. He quickly brought out his gun and turned around to see the sight of Braeden holding a rifle at him.

Chris sighed and lowered his gun. "What are you doing here?"

Braeden moved to let her gun hang off at the side of her. "I heard your sister paid a visit to the hospital tonight."

"Really? Who's your source?" Braeden stayed silent and Chris took a minute before he deflated. "Stiles. Stiles told you."

"He knows that I'm looking for her for Derek. He sent me quite a detailed text about Kate's attack at the hospital. But, what was most interesting was the part when he said that you had her at gunpoint but the only shot you took was at Stiles."

"I didn't hit him," he defended.

"Was that intentional, or accidental?"

"What are you implying?" Chris knew that the boy didn't trust him and especially wouldn't be taking what had happened at the hospital well. Yet it seemed that everyone else might go on to follow his lead and he wasn't on the best of terms with a good many of them as it was.

"Just that if you ran into Kate again, would just let her go again? You know what she's done."

"I'm very well aware, thank you," he grunted.

"But you didn't stop her. You instead shot at the boy who was trying to and then let her go without a fight, especially when your code demands that you don't let her go. Excuse me if that's a bit suspicious."

"Kate wouldn't have been willing to listen if I had shot her and Scott didn't have much time. If the fighting had went on any longer than we would've lost him."

"Convenient then," she stated. "Though, from what I've heard over the years, you Argents always find some way to conveniently go around or even ignore the rules."

Chris narrowed his eyes at her. "You're questioning my loyalty and intentions? What about you?"

"What about me?"

"I'm curious why it seems that Stiles and even Derek are so ready to trust you over me when your reputation is hardly better than mine."

She shrugged as she mockingly put a show of thought. "I don't know, maybe, it just might have something to do with the fact that when I first came their ways it was to save them and their friends, not shoot them." She then lifted her chin up and exposed the claw scratches on her neck. "Even have the marks to prove it."

Argent's jaw tightened. He couldn't argue against that, not at all. The very first time he made himself known to Derek Hale was when he had been hunting him in the woods as a teenager. And the very first time he made himself known to Stiles was as the one that had shot an arrow into his best friend. Neither one of them seemed bound to ever forget that. But he deflated and just gave her a hard stare. "That doesn't mean that either one of them should trust you. You may act like you're trying to look out for everyone but only after you were paid to do that. And that's what you're still in this for. You're not looking to stop Kate because you care about what she's done. She's just a job, just like saving Isaac, Derek and helping those kids in Mexico were. You had to be paid for all of that and last I checked loyalty is something that is earned, not bought."

Braeden and Chris just stared hard at one another for a moment before Braeden moved to break the silence.

"Stiles told me that Kate had tried to get Scott. What would she want with his body?"

Chris shook his head. "I don't know. I can't think of any reason why. It wouldn't do her any good." He then froze and stiffened. "Unless it wasn't for her."

Braeden narrowed her eyes. "She wants it for someone else," she realized. "She's not working alone."

"But who? Who would want Scott's body? With an Alpha?" Chris had a long list in the back of his head of potential people that might, but which of them would seek out his sister?

* * *

Kate was finding herself moving into the sewers and found Peter Hale waiting for her there.

"You were right," she said to him. "He's still alive."

He smiled. "Thank god."

* * *

Scott had taken Kira to his home and they were sitting together on his bed. They were facing each other as they were holding hands.

"My mom is being taken to a hospital in Palo Alto. They actually put her in a helicopter."

Scott tightened the hold he had over her assuringly. "I'm sure she's going to be okay."

"Yeah, but she's not healing like she used to. I need to be there with her. Especially if she's still on the list."

"I know. You should be with her. I actually have to head back to the hospital. They want to do a bunch of tests since I was, you know, officially dead."

Kira smiled a bit. "I guess Liam's dad has a lot of questions." But then her grin faded. "I just wish it all worked. It was a good plan."

"Yeah, I've been thinking about that too. And, actually I think that it did work. Not that I don't exactly know about who the Benefactor is but I think I know more about him now."

"But no one came. And no one got visual confirmation, right?"

"That's why it might have worked. Think about it. Who has the power to know when someone's dead but doesn't need to see the body to know what happened?"

Kira could think of one person that was like that: Lydia. "A banshee," she realized.

Scott nodded. The Benefactor must be a banshee.

* * *

Lydia was looking through her grandmother's things that were still kept at the lake house with her mother. Her mom pulled out a slip of paper and gave it to her.

"This is the last thing your grandmother wrote before she died. I don't even know why I kept it because it's just basically nonsense."

Lydia opened it and she stiffened. "Are you absolutely sure that grandma's dead?"

Her mother nodded. "Yes, I mean, she has to be," she said nervously.

But Lydia shook her head. "This isn't nonsense mom. It's code."

Lydia recognized it. It wasn't normal code. It's computer code, just like the code that brought her the Deadpool. If it was similar…then that might mean one thing. One horrifying thing. What if the Benefactor…was her grandmother?


	17. Perishable

Chapter 17: Perishable

A/N: Thank you for all your comments about the dream segment. It seemed to be deadlocked between both versions so I decided to go back and change it to a new version that held aspects from both of them and I really liked it. I hope all of you do too.

* * *

Over at a small apartment there was some soft moaning coming from a closed room. There was a deep groan that was followed by some tired laughing from under a sheet spread over two bodies on a bed. The guy on top moved to lay on his back next to the blonde that he had spent a good hour having sex with.

"That was awesome," Derek Hale gasped out with a satisfied smile on his face.

Kate Argent turned and smiled at the teenage boy. "The third or fourth time?"

"All of them," he said making her giggle. The two of them took a minute to take a breather as they just stared at the ceiling. "You know…these past couple of weeks have been really good."

"Oh, I think I'm getting as much out of them as you are," she said jokingly which made Derek smile at her.

"But seriously, it's been great," he said as he let his head rest gently against the pillow. "I haven't been able to have fun with anyone for…a long time."

Kate narrowed her eyes at him. "Why?" Her tone was one of concern. "You're a great guy Derek. One would think that you would have loads of friends and things to help distract and keep you occupied."

Derek let out a heated breath. "Not really. Most of my friends have left for the summer or are working."

"Well, I'm sure that'll change when school starts up again in two weeks."

"Not likely. Some are going off to college and any that are left are going to be busy with basketball practice. I not going to be on the team for next year so I won't be seeing them as much."

"Oh, what happened?"

"My mom's not letting me play. She overreacted over a mistake I did. A small, little thing and nothing bad even really happened, but she's treating it like I did something horrible like rob the Memorial Bank and wants to punish me forever."

She sucked in some air. "Yeah, parents could be that way sometimes. You should meet my dad. He's always been on me and my brother's case but he seems to be ten times harder with me. I tend to always make him blow a gasket because I liked to do my own thing growing up. Sad to say, he hasn't mellowed with age."

That made Derek grin in amusement. "I can't see my mom mellowing then either." He then sighed. "I better get going." He then moved to pick up his boxers and put them on before moving for his pants.

Kate just let herself watch as he put his clothes on with his back to her. "What about your family? Why don't you hang out with them? Other than your mom."

"Well my little sister is only nine, so-" That made Kate nod in understanding. "And Laura's been focused on getting ready to head off for school. She leaves in a few days."

"Oh, what school is she going to exactly?" she asked interested.

"Berkeley," he told her as he reached for his shirt.

"Wow, that's a good school."

"Yeah, I know," he said with a roll of his eyes as he had heard his mom commend his sister about making it to a good school enough times already. "Where did you go?" he asked as he started to pull his shirt on.

"What do you mean?"

"College?" he said as he got his head through the hole and started to tug it down. "You're trying to be a teacher, right?"

"Right," Kate nodded. "Santa Barbara, that's where I went." She then moved to start getting her undergarments back on now that Derek was clothed again. "But I'm not really trying to be a teacher. I'm only a TA, remember? My job there was just for the summer and ends just before the school year starts."

"Oh," Derek said letting his head hang down for a bit. He had been hoping to keep seeing her through the school year, now that he had someone to talk with, and do other things. He then cleared his throat. "Hey, do you mind if I grab some water?"

She smiled widely at him. "Sure. After everything, I know you need the rehydration."

Derek smiled bashfully but also felt a hint of masculine pride as he headed for the kitchen. He went to the fridge and pulled out a bottle of water. As he opened it, he noticed that there were some envelopes on the table. It seemed like junk mail stuff, but his eyes widened when he read the name on them.

"Kate!"

Kate had just finished getting her shirt on but was still in her undershorts as she ran into the kitchen as she heard the urgency in his voice. "What? What's wrong?"

His back was turned to her and he slowly turned around to face her with a slightly angry look in his eye. "Is this, is this true?" He held up the envelope. The one that had the recipient's name. The name Kate Argent.

She felt a bit of annoyance starting to rise up in her but she pushed it down and kept a cool head. She just sighed and kept her expression light. "Yes. It's true."

"You're…you're a hunter?!" he asked, a look of hurt coming over him.

"Derek, look, just give me a minute and I can explain."

* * *

Jordan Parrish was responding to a domestic disturbance call as he pulled into the reported location. It was an empty lot of a condemned warehouse but Parrish couldn't see anyone, not even another car. He stopped and made his way outside, turning on his flashlight and started to look around. He heard a small sound that sounded like metal rattling and he moved to check it out. He moved to the corner of the building where he heard the sound and flashed his light on the ground to find just a can lying there, slowly rolling, as if it had been thrown recently. Just then he heard movement behind him and turned just in time to see a nightstick come at him.

He was slowly starting to come to and found himself sitting back in his car. His head was also stinging and there was a dried spot of blood at the side of his hairline. He also dimly heard water outside and thought that it was raining. Jordan raised his head and found that his wrists were tied to the steering wheel. He tried to pull himself free but he couldn't get hands free. He was trapped. He then heard more water but his heart dropped when the smell started to hit him. The smell of gasoline.

"Hey!" he cried out before he spotted the one pouring it all over his car. "Hey! What are you doing? Listen, I'm a deputy with the Beacon Hills Sheriff's Department!"

But the attacker moved to look through the open passenger side window. "Damn, I was hoping you'd be out longer." It was Deputy Haigh. After failing to catch Stilinski's boy alone, he decided to go for Parrish but knew that he couldn't just be on wait again. He put in a call for a disturbance in Parrish's patrol area to get him alone in a place where he knew no one would be and lied in wait. He was happy to see that his plan worked this time around.

"Haigh?!" Parrish cried out. He saw the gas can in his hand and saw him move to continue pouring it on his car. "What the hell are you doing?"

"You're a good guy Parrish. But the list says you're worth five million dollars."

Jordan's heart froze. There was only one list he could be referring to. "What? I don't know what you're talking about!" he cried, trying to play dumb. But Haigh just kept on pouring gas. "Hey, listen! I barely make 40 thousand dollars a year!"

But Haigh just tilted his head at him. "I only make 36." And with that he savagely threw the last of the gasoline straight at him.

Parrish screamed as he became drenched in the stuff. "Please, just stop!" Haigh did stop, but only because his can was now empty. "You don't have to do this. Listen, if you're having money problems-"

"You're worth five million dead Parrish. Sounds like you got the problem. Just like the Sheriff's boy. He's worth ten million dead. I wanted to actually get him first but he kept having his fellow brats around with him." That made Parrish's eyes widen in shock. "Yeah, I know you have a soft spot for that little bastard and his friends. Hey, if it's any consolation, I'll try to make it be faster for the kid than it was for you."

"No, wait! You can't do this!" he cried out at him. "You're just going to stand there? You're just going to listen to a fellow deputy burn to death?!"

Haigh just reached for his pocket and pulled out some earphones and started to stick them in his ear. Parrish tried harder to pull himself free but the twist ties were not budging at all. After turning on some music from his phone, Haigh then reached into his pocket and pulled out a lighter. He lit it up and then threw it into the car. Immediately, it lit up in flames. Parrish cried out as he became surrounded in the inferno until he was completely cut out from seeing the outside. All he could see was flames. Just as Haigh could see no sign of him through the flames.

* * *

Stiles and Lydia found his father at the station as he was getting a drink of water from the dispenser.

"Dad, we have to talk to you for a sec," said Stiles.

"Oh," the Sheriff said when they stood side by side to face him. "Now you want to talk?" he said a little short to him.

"Dad?" His dad seemed angry and annoyed about something.

But the Sheriff narrowed eyes fell when he say that his son and Lydia were nervous. "Uh oh, by now I know those expressions. I'm about to hear something crazy, terrifying or impossible, aren't I?"

"Possibly all three," Stiles shrugged to him.

The front door then opened and Deputy Haigh walked into the station. He gave the Sheriff and the two kids a small look as he headed over to his desk. He needed to access the Deadpool and place in the confirmed kill so he could collect the reward. As he sat down, Stiles' nose crinkled from across the room. He picked a hint of gasoline and burnt smoke in the air and it made his nostrils itch. He started taking deeper sniffs and started to scan the room, trying to find where it was coming from and Noah narrowed his eyes at his son's behavior.

"Stiles, what is it son?" he asked him.

"Do you guys smell something?" he asked them.

"Smell what?" Lydia asked him.

"Uh, nothing. Forget it." Stiles shook his head. Gasoline and smoke weren't exactly subtle smells. If his dad and Lydia couldn't smell it then it probably wasn't a concern. Maybe he was picking up traces of a deputy coming back from filling up their car at a gas station and someone who had just smoked.

His father shrugged and moved to get them back on topic. "So, what did you come here to tell me?"

"It's about my grandmother," said Lydia. "Lorraine Martin."

"Lorraine Martin…yeah, didn't she die about eight or nine odd years ago?"

"That's the thing," Stiles started.

"We think she might be still be alive," Lydia finished.

Before they knew it, Stiles and Lydia were being herded into the Sheriff's office with him right behind him with a tired look on his face.

"It's not just that she might still be alive," Stiles said as soon as all three were inside.

"It's that she would've had to fake her death," said Lydia.

"Your grandmother, Lorraine Martin, faked her death?" Noah asked skeptically.

Stiles nodded. "Definitely."

"Maybe," Lydia quickly put in.

"More than likely, yes," Stiles shrugged but still nodded.

"Yeah, crazy, impossible and terrifying all in one," his dad sighed. "And I'm guessing you have a story to back this up?"

Lydia tensed a bit. "She…might be helping the Benefactor."

"Or is the Benefactor," Stiles put in.

Now it was Noah's turn to tense up. He knew that the Benefactor was no joke but serious business. This was the person that wanted to kill his son and his supernatural friends. "That sounds like a story worth hearing." He then moved to close the door so no one could overhear them. "Where did she supposedly die?" he asked turning over to Lydia.

"Eichen House," she answered.

Noah deflated as he shared a silent look with his son. That place still was a sore spot for them. And still affecting them as there was still the great bill from Stiles' time there that was still unpaid.

"Okay, what do you need?" he asked them.

"I need to go there," Lydia told them. "Find out where she was and what happened while she was there."

"Do you even know where to start?" Noah asked her.

Lydia narrowed her eyes and nodded after a second. "Brunski. When I went there with Parrish to see Meredith, he seemed to recognize my name. He must've known her."

"Brunski, of course," Stiles mumbled as he rolled his eyes. Of all the orderlies, it would have to be him that might have some clues for them. That was just their luck. "But I don't think he's going to be in the mood to be doing us any favors."

"Parrish," Lydia told them. "He can help. He did it before."

Over at his desk, Haigh was going through the final bits of accessing the Deadpool before he was in. He took a moment to look over at the Sheriff's office where he saw Stilinski's boy in there with him and the Martin girl. He was marked and soon he would make a plan to get him alone too. After that, he would have triple the money he got tonight. He looked back and requested to check on the status of his wire transfer.

The Sheriff opened his door and looked out. "Anyone seen Parrish?" he asked. He then looked over and saw that Haigh was the only one there. "Haigh?"

He shook his head. "Haven't seen him."

The Sheriff nodded and closed the door to go back to the kids. "Guess we'll have to wait," he told them.

"Dad?" Stiles said suddenly.

"Yeah?"

Stiles stepped over to face the window and set his sight on the deputy. "Haigh, he just lied to you."

"What?"

Stiles narrowed his eyes as he kept looking at him. "Yeah, I was listening out when you asked if he'd seen Parrish. His heart jumped right when he answered you."

Now Noah's eyes narrowed before he moved to open the door again. But when he did, Stiles caught a new smell. A stronger smell, of something burning.

Back at Haigh's desk, he was waiting for the Benefactor's response when the Sheriff's door opened again.

"Haigh, is there something wrong?" Noah asked him.

Haigh shrugged and tried not to flinch at the serious tone that the man was speaking to him with. "Wrong sir? What do you mean?" But then he saw movement at the corner of his eye and turned. Entering the room was Parrish, blackened from head to toe, but alive. "Holy," Haigh gasped before he went for his gun but Parrish moved for him and grabbed his hand and pushed him back into the opposite wall.

"Parrish, Haigh, stop!" the Sheriff cried at them. Stiles moved to stand beside him as he watched the two of them fight.

Haigh tried to maneuver his hand to point the gun at Parrish but he let out two shots into the air.

Stiles looked back at Lydia. "Get down!"

"Hey, hey!" Noah screamed at them as he pulled out his own gun.

"You're dead," Haigh grunted out.

Parrish then threw him to the ground and moved to pound on him. Lydia whimpered as she looked over at the sight of Parrish wearing only shorts as ash covered his whole body, savagely punching and beating Deputy Haigh.

Stiles, in practically slow motion, saw Haigh's hand with the gun moving down and was pointing in his father's direction. He knew what was inevitably going to happen. "No!" he said knocking into him just as the shot rang out. His father had been thrust out of the way as Stiles then felt the burning sting as the bullet pierced his left shoulder and he fell to the ground.

"Stiles!" Noah cried as he saw Stiles' sleeve now sporting a growing red spot and threw himself over to him.

He helped him sit up and they watched as Parrish slammed Haigh's hand down and force him to let go and lose the gun.

"But you're dead," Haigh cried.

Parrish didn't respond, with words. He just moved and made punch after punch at Haigh's face. He didn't stop until Haigh wasn't moving anymore. He then stood up, back to his feet.

"Parrish!" Lydia yelled out causing him to turn to look in their direction.

Stiles grit his teeth as he thought it meant that Parrish might move on them next. He got to his feet against his father's cries and attempts to keep him down and moved to face Parrish. Parrish looked at him, breathless, and even a little scared. He seemed to be trying to calm himself down and get back in check. Then there was a soft peeping close by. Stiles looked and saw a familiar looking screen on Haigh's computer and his eyes widened at the message displayed on the bottom. KILL NOT CONFIRMED. He remembered him and Lydia showing Parrish the Deadpool, which had his name on it. Suddenly, Stiles looked down at Haigh and he caught the same lingering scent of gasoline and smoke that he noticed before. It had been coming from Haigh and he thought back to the lie he had told his father and the fight the two just had. Suddenly, Parrish's burned and ash covered appearance made scary but complete sense.

* * *

Liam sitting in a corner of his room, as he thrust his hand down and exposed the claws at the end of them. His fingers felt hot and the warmth was going through him and his heartbeat went up a beat but he closed his eyes and took a deep breath before he opened them again and calmly stared at them. After a moment, he watched as they started to shrink and went back to plain fingernails.

There was then a knock on the door that nearly made him jump up from the chair. "Liam?" he heard from the other side of it. It was his stepfather.

Liam looked at his vanity mirror to check that nothing was out of place on his face or hands. He seemed clean. "Come in," he told him. His stepdad opened the door and Liam saw he was dressed in everything but his white coat. "You heading to the hospital?"

"Yeah, but I just wanted to see and talk to you a bit before I headed out."

"About what?"

"You. Your mom says that you slept at a friend's house last night."

Liam nodded. "Yeah. It's not the first time I've slept over at a friend's."

"But I hear this friend wasn't Mason. It was the Sheriff's boy. And, from what Melissa McCall tells me at work, you've been hanging around her son Scott too."

"Is that bad?"

His stepdad quickly shook his head. "No, no Liam, I'm just surprised. I mean, last I knew you didn't like those two because they sent you to the hospital."

Liam ducked his head a bit. "Yeah, I admit I didn't really like them at first. Actually, punched and kicked them," he said laughing at the memory of escaping from Scott's house when they kidnapped him. His stepdad raised his eyes at him. "But, Scott is actually a real good guy. He might be kind of annoying but he's always trying to help people. His mom is really nice too."

"That I agree with," his stepdad nodded.

"And Stiles…he's crazy." That was the only word that could fully sum up Stiles. "But it's a good kind of crazy. And he's been helping to teach me some things."

"What things?"

"Oh, just some stuff to help out the team. His dad actually helped him to show me something new today. And their other friends, I'm starting to like them too."

"Really? Well, it sounds like you found yourself some good new friends. Especially since I know that what happened with your other two friends couldn't have been easy."

Liam resisted the urge to shiver at the reminder of Garrett and Violet. "No, it wasn't but this is making it a lot better."

"Well, I'm really happy for you then Liam. Sounds like moving here was a better decision then we thought after all." Liam smiled wider at him as he nodded. "Okay, well I think it's high time you hit the hay. School's opening back up from that quarantine mess and you don't want to be half-asleep for it. Especially when they're having that bonfire tomorrow night."

"Sure," Liam nodded and watched as he was about to leave the room. "Uh, hey dad," he said stopping him.

"Yeah."

"Thank you," he gently said to him.

"For what?"

"Everything," Liam answered.

His stepdad just smiled and then moved to switch off the lights as he closed the door. Liam let out a deep breath and moved to snuggle up under his bed covers. He let his arm rest on his forehead as his mind went back to early that day.

 _He was sitting in the Stilinski's living room as Stiles tried to help him find his anchor. The Sheriff was also there and was sitting and watching them._

" _I still don't get what an anchor is," Liam said to him._

" _It's something that helps keep you grounded. Something that you focus on to help keep or give you back control. But it's different for everyone."_

" _How do we find mine?" he asked him._

 _"I don't really know. It's different for everyone," Stiles admitted. Liam deflated at that._

 _But Stiles' dad looked from him to his son._ " _How did you find yours son?" the Sheriff asked. "Maybe telling him how you found yours will help?"_

 _Stiles leaned back into his chair. "Uh…well, I remember that I was feeling angry, scared and overwhelmed all at once and could feel myself turning. I ran into the bathroom and was gripping at my sink hard to try and keep calm but it wasn't working. Then, you showed up dad. I was so scared that I would do something to you, especially when you came in. But then, you put your hand on me, and I started to calm down and stopped changing."_

 _Liam's face lightened as he looked at the two Stilinski's sharing a look. "Your anchor is your dad?"_

" _My dad, Scott, Malia, Lydia. All my friends. They're all my anchors. But my dad was my first." Stiles then froze up. "Okay, that last part didn't come out right." His dad rolled his eyes amusingly at him._

 _But Liam narrowed his eyes in thought. "So, a person? Those are anchors?"_

" _They can be. Pain also helps keep you human but those don't turn out to always work so well. Is there a person that you can easily think about?"_

" _My stepdad. But, how do I use him if he's not always with me."_

" _A memory of him should work too. I remember a time that I got so angry at a guy, I just wanted to claw his face off and almost did. But then, I thought of me and my dad arguing about curly fries earlier and I stayed in control." That made both Stilinski's chuckle under their breath._

 _Liam only felt more confused. "Curly fries? I don't get it. How did that give you control?"_

" _It was a moment between me and my dad." Stiles calmly explained. "It means something to us."_

" _Do you have a memory like that between you and your stepdad Liam?" the Sheriff asked him. "A time that you and he did something. Or maybe told and taught you something that means alot to you?"_

And Liam did have one. The first time that his stepdad shared and taught him his favorite slogan. Play smart, not hard. With it, he was able to ground himself and shift his wolf features at will without him flying out of control though it was still a little shaky but it was a lot more than he had before. Maybe in a little while, he might be as together as Scott and the others were. Him, Stiles, Lydia, Malia and Kira; they all seemed to have a good handle on things. Even though they were all really high on the Deadpool, they still were so strong. He let himself smile as he moved to settle and get to sleep.

But he then heard a buzzing. It was coming from his printer. It had turned on and was printing something. He looked over and saw that it was printing page after page. He reached for one and saw that it was a printout of the Deadpool. However, it was different from how he remembered. For one, there were names crossed out. Names from people that he knew were now dead. The list was updating itself. And the printer was printing them out one after the other. Non-stop. He moved to hit the off button but the printer just kept going anyway. He then dropped to pull the plug out of the wall to finally get it to stop. He went and checked the lists, to see just how many people were left, and his eyes widened when he looked over at his name. It was different. It changed, and after going through every name, he saw that it wasn't the only one to.

* * *

After getting him cleaned, and put in some new clothes, Stiles, Lydia and his father went and took Parrish over to Derek's loft where they met with him and Scott after they gave him a call. Parrish told them what had happened. How Haigh had jumped him and trapped him in his squad car before dumping gasoline everywhere and lighting him on fire. He was surrounded in flames but the next thing he knew, he had pushed his door off its hinges and was walking out of his burning car.

Derek was looking at his hands that seemed to have no burn marks or blemishes of any kind. "You say that he covered you in gasoline?" Derek asked him and Parrish nodded.

"He still has hair and nails, right?" Lydia asked him. "The parts of the body that are essentially dead."

Derek nodded. "They should be gone."

"I was set on fire," Parrish cried out. "All of me should be gone."

"Not if you're like us," Scott told him.

"Like you?" he asked confused.

But Stiles shook his head. "No, we're not fireproof Scott. Remember Peter? He had been burned and it took years for him to heal but when Parrish came to the station, everything but him was burned."

Lydia nodded. "The only damage the fire did was burn away his clothes and leave him covered in ash." If she hadn't been terrified at the time, she actually would've been a little appreciative of that fact.

"Stiles is right," said Derek. "I don't think he's like us."

"Then what is he?" Lydia asked them.

"Sorry, but I have no idea," Derek told them.

"But you knew about Jackson and Kira," Scott pointed out.

Derek straightened up. "Uh, this is a little out of my experience. There might be something in the bestiary, did you try Argent?"

"I don't know where he is," Scott told him.

"Okay, what's a bestiary?" Parrish cut in before he shook his head. "Actually, no, that's not my first question. Just tell me one thing, are all of you like Lydia? Are you all psychic?"

The group was taken aback with shock or some amusement.

"Psychic?" Derek repeated like it was a joke.

But Parrish nodded with a serious look on his face. "Yeah, Lydia told me that she can feel when someone's dead or going to die. Can you all do that too?"

"Not exactly," Scott mumbled.

Parrish shook his head before looking over at Stiles and saw the red spot of dried blood smeared on his shirt. "Sheriff, wait, why haven't you taken your son to the hospital? I mean, wasn't he shot back at the station? Speaking of which, how are you not in pain or still bleeding right now?" he asked the boy.

Noah ducked his head awkwardly before looking at his son who was scratching his head. Scott and Derek were looking at them tensely while Lydia was staring at her shoes.

"Well, because it's long gone by now," Stiles mumbled.

"What do you mean gone?" Parrish asked him.

Stiles then moved to pull his shirt off and revealed that his shoulder was fine. There was no marks or anything that would suggest that anything even happened.

Parrish's eyes widened. "Okay, what is going on?"

"My son is different," the Sheriff told him as Stiles pulled his shirt back on.

"Different? And you sir? Are you different?" Parrish asked him.

"No," he sighed off. "It's just my son." He then pointing over to Scott and Derek. "And these two."

Scott moved to look at Parrish while Derek moved to look to the side, avoiding looking at anyone. Parrish was meeting Scott's gaze. "And, just what are all of you?"

Scott then closed his eyes for a moment before he revealed his glowing red eyes to him. He then looked over at Stiles who shut his own eyes for a moment before revealing his glowing blue eyes. He then turned to look at Derek but he was still looking away from everyone.

They then settled themselves in as Scott, Stiles and Lydia took turns explaining the supernatural world to him and the different creatures that they have encountered. Derek and the Sheriff were off to the side, speaking alone.

"That deputy being supernatural, I have to say, I wasn't expecting that."

Noah nodded at Derek's statement. He was quite thrown himself. "You know, I didn't think anything of it, but nearly two months ago I asked Parrish why he came to this town. He said that he had felt drawn here. Isn't that what the Nemeton is supposed to do? Draw things here?"

"Yeah," he said as he looked over at the deputy just sitting there and listening to what Scott, Stiles and Lydia were saying to him. "You didn't notice anything off about him? Anything that might suggest that he wasn't completely human? Ever?"

Noah shrugged. "No. He seemed like a completely normal guy to me." He folded his arms and shrugged. "But then again, I didn't even have a clue that my own son and his best friend were werewolves for over half a year so what do I know."

Derek shook his head. "I wouldn't feel bad about that, it looks like Parrish didn't even know about himself either."

Parrish had just sat silently as he tried to absorb as much of what he was being told as possible. The Sheriff's boy, his best friend and Derek Hale were all Werewolves. Real werewolves. And apparently, Lydia wasn't really a psychic. She was a Banshee. And apparently there were cannibalistic Wendigos and electrical Kitsunes too. But there was something that he still didn't quite get.

"Uh, what's a Kanima?"

That made the three of them start looking at each other.

"Uh, we'll get back to that later," Scott said as he moved to stand beside him. "Right now, all you need to know is that everyone with some kind of supernatural ability is on the Deadpool."

"But I don't even know what I am," he told them.

Derek shrugged. "Uh, I'm pretty sure they don't care."

"Just how many professional assassins are there?" he asked them.

Lydia shook his head. "We're starting to lose count."

Stiles nodded his head down as he crossed his arms over his chest. "And now we have professional killers moonlighting as deputies in my dad's police station."

But Derek shook his head. "No, that can't be. He was there before all this even started, right?" He remembered Haigh from when he had been turned back to a teen and that had been before the bearer bonds had been stolen.

"Yeah," Scott muttered. "What if it isn't just professionals anymore?"

"Haigh, I don't think he's ever done anything like this before. I think he was just taking a chance."

"But if he's not a professional then how did he know about the Deadpool?" asked Stiles.

"Maybe from this." The Sheriff then went and pulled out a piece of folded paper. "I pulled this from Haigh when I threw him into the holding cells. It's a part of the list, the one that has your name and Parrish on it. And both of you are circled," he stated grimly.

Parrish moved to take the paper from him. "Yeah, just before he lit me on fire, Haigh told me that he actually wanted to go for Stiles first because he was worth more but couldn't get you alone."

Stiles tilted his head a bit in thought. "Then it must've been him I saw last night."

"What do you mean?" Scott asked him.

"After the hospital, I was driving Liam home but I saw that someone was following me. But they were kind of easy for me to notice, not exactly professional like. I didn't want to risk someone finding out where Liam lived and leave him in danger and alone so I brought him to my house. But it sounds like he actually protected me instead." Stiles didn't see that his father was making a shocked face at him as he was distracted in thought. "At the time, I didn't think anything of it."

Derek let out a frustrated huff from his nose. "Then that means that anyone that gets their hands on this Deadpool can also try and take a chance, like the deputy."

"But how did Haigh even get it? How easy is it to get this thing now?" Parrish asked them.

Everyone stiffened. That was a very good but scary question.

"We have to stop the Benefactor," Scott told them. "The only reason that anyone is trying to kill us is because they want to be paid. If we can find him, we can stop the Deadpool and they'll all go away."

"But isn't this Benefactor a ghost?" asked Parrish. "How do we even start to find someone like that?"

"Actually, we have a pretty good idea where to start," Stiles told them. "We found something. Well, Lydia found something."

"What?" asked Derek.

"Meredith," she told them.

"The girl from Eichen House?" asked Parrish. Lydia nodded. "She was on the list too, wasn't she? Was she something too?"

Stiles nodded. "A Banshee, just like Lydia."

Everyone then looked over at her as Lydia began pacing around the loft. "Meredith was only at my grandmother's lake house once. But I think once was enough."

"How did your grandmother know her?" Derek asked her.

"She didn't, she found her. Because of another woman named Maddy, a woman she loved." She then moved to hand a photo of her grandmother and Maddy for Scott to look at. "I never met her but I saw her name everywhere. She used to be part of a yacht racing team. There are plaques and trophies from all the galas she won."

"How'd she die?' asked Parrish.

"How's not the story, it's what happened right before. My grandmother, Lorraine, used to work in San Francisco for IBM. She was there on a weekend, catching up on work and she started hearing this…sound. Like rain, but when she looked out the window, all she saw was blue sky."

"But she kept hearing the rain," Scott said catching on to what that meant.

"And it just kept getting louder. Rain, thunder cracking, like gunshots in her head. So loud…she finally just screamed.

"Like a Banshee," said Derek.

"Like you," Noah breathed.

She looked at him for a moment before turning away to continue the story. "She called Maddy who was planning on taking one of the boats out on the lake. Maddy said that the sun was shining there too so Lorraine didn't say anything."

"There was an accident," Parrish realized what had happened. Lorraine had foreseen a death out on the lake. Maddy's.

"It took them four days to find Maddy's body. And it took decades to figure out how Lorraine knew. She started with a pair of psychologists. A PHD in their name made it more scientific," she slurred. "They built the study in the lake house according to every pseudo-scientific theory they could find. None of it worked. Then she started getting into things like extreme occult, mediums and psychics. All of them were failures, until Meredith. They found her at Eichen House. This fragile girl that didn't understand the things she heard. They brought her to the study, and they almost killed her." The other five in the room had shock written clear on their faces for Lydia to pick up. Tears started falling from her eyes. "She was hospitalized for over a year. She, never really recovered. My grandmother drove her insane…and I drove her to suicide. And all she ever wanted to do was help."

"But what does this have to do with the Benefactor?" Scott asked her.

Lydia went and brought out the paper that she had found at the lake house and put it on the table for all of them to look at. "My grandmother created the code for the Deadpool. She might be the banshee that put the names out in the first place. She left me this message in the same code."

"But she didn't leave a cypher key, did she?" asked Scott. Lydia shook her head.

"Can you crack it?" Parrish asked her.

"Maybe," she sighed. "But not without help."

She looked over at Stiles and he nodded. "Yeah, definitely. You can stay over and we could work on it together. But, we might need to stay home from school," he said turning slowly over to his father.

He sighed. "Well, I can't speak for Lydia's mom, but if it gets us to the Benefactor, then yeah. Go for it." He then turned over to Derek and held his hand to him. "Thank you for your help."

Derek reached over and shook it. "Of course."

Stiles, Lydia, Parrish and the Sheriff then all moved to leave the loft but Scott stayed behind as he tried to work everything he just heard into his head. Why would Lydia's grandmother be involved in creating a hitlist of supernaturals that would include her own granddaughter. It didn't make any sense to him. Not to mention that now it wasn't just professional assassins that were coming after them anymore. He then remembered the words that were spoken to him when he was in the morgue. 'They are coming and will keep coming'. Someone else on that list, close to them, could've been killed tonight and Stiles was being stalked, again, and was shot. By a deputy. A normal deputy that was supposed to be protecting them, not trying to kill them. Scott's heart suddenly felt heavier from it all.

Derek noticed how quiet Scott seemed all of a sudden. "Something wrong?"

Scott scoffed. "A lot of things," he muttered. He started to pace over to the window when he noticed a gun lying on Derek's bed. He moved to pick it up and give it a look.

"Careful with that," Derek said to him as he came over.

"I thought you didn't like guns?" Derek just silently reached his hand for it. "Does this have something to do with your eyes?"

He nodded. "My eyes, my strength, my healing…all of it."

Scott's eyes widened. "Gone?"

Derek nodded again. "Whatever Kate did to me, it's still happening."

"Uh, if the Deadpool was really made by a banshee, then there's something you should know about. Your name broke the third list. It was a Cypher Key."

"And the other two keys were Allison and Aiden." Derek realized what this meant.

"I don't want to make you nervous but it kind of feels like there might be a pattern there, doesn't it? Allison. Aiden. You."

Derek could see that Scott knew it to. "Names picked by a banshee."

"It could mean that…you're in danger."

Scott was in denial and Derek moved to set him straight. "Scott, banshees don't predict danger. They predict death."

* * *

Stiles, Lydia, his father and Parrish walked out of the building and headed over for the Sheriff's van and the jeep.

"Uh, listen kids," Noah said stopping the four of them. "Parrish and I need to head back to the station. We kind of have to handle the whole situation with Haigh and smooth all this mess over so I might not be back at the house until morning. Please be careful tonight, okay?"

"Okay," Stiles and Lydia said together.

"Good, uh Stiles, do you mind if I talk to you alone for a moment?"

"Uh, okay?" Stiles said as he could detect how tense his father seemed to have gotten all of a sudden.

"I'll wait for you at the van," Parrish told him. The Sheriff nodded at him.

"I'll walk with you," Lydia said to him before pulled at his arm and walked with him for the jeep.

"What is with you Stiles?" Noah asked when he and his son were alone.

He looked confused. "What are you talking about?"

"What am I-, why didn't you tell me that someone tried to follow you last night?"

"Well after everything that happened at the hospital, it wasn't exactly at the front of my mind."

Noah narrowed his eyes at him. "Yes, the hospital. Yet another thing you didn't tell me about. You told Melissa, Noshiko and Argent but you didn't think to tell me? I had to hear about what you were doing from Melissa after I got there? Stiles, especially after this morning with Liam, I thought we were finally done with you trying to keep things from me?"

"But what about what you're trying to keep from me?"

"What are you talking about?"

"The bills dad. From the hospital and Eichen House. I know that you've been trying to hide them."

"I wasn't hiding them from you. I didn't tell you because it's not your concern."

"Of course it's my concern dad. How am I supposed to take care of you if I don't know what's going on?"

"You're not supposed to take care of me Stiles," he said raising his voice a bit. "I'm the dad," he said pointing to himself before pointing to him. "You're the son. I'm the one that's supposed to know what's going on so I can take care of you. Like back at the station. You weren't supposed to push me out of the way. I was supposed to be shot, not you."

Stiles narrowed his eyes. "Dad, I was trying to protect you. I can heal from a bullet but you can't."

"That doesn't matter!" Noah shouted. "That's my job, not yours. I'm supposed to protect you, you're not supposed to protect me," he finished in a weakened tone. Noah then let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding and turned away from his son as he rubbed at his heated forehead. Protecting his son was already feeling hard enough with so many people and things already hurt him and are currently trying to do worse. Lately, he'd been feeling so powerless as a father and a cop and what his son did tonight only amplified his feelings of helplessness.

"Dad," Stiles said softly. "I just didn't want you getting hurt."

Noah's head fell a bit. "I realize that. That's why you didn't tell me about the hospital, or Mexico, or even about being a werewolf. But Stiles, you're all I have left. Okay, do you get that? You can't just start keeping things from me and keeping me in the dark because you're scared I'll get hurt. Because, not being able to trust me to help you, that hurts me a lot more."

Stiles breathed in the pain and anxiety that his father was giving off. It made Stiles' heart ache and he dropped his gaze to look at his feet. "Maybe you're right." That made his dad look back at him. "I should've told you about what we were doing last night to catch the Benefactor. And dad, I do trust you. With what you did for me and Malia with her dad, it really meant a lot to me." He looked up to face him with shining eyes. "But, why shouldn't I try and look out for you too? You're the only family I have left too. Aren't we supposed to take care of each other?"

Noah then moved to embrace his son tightly, who went and embraced back just as hard.

Parrish sat at the driver's seat and was looking his hands up and down. Lydia was standing right outside the door, looking silently with him.

"I still can't believe it," he said almost inaudibly. "There's no marks. Not a one." He then pulled the front of his hair back a bit. "And the cut I had on my head is gone. Looks like the fire healed that for me."

Lydia could hear how shaken he was. "What," she said making him turn to her. "What did it feel like?" she asked him hesitantly but softly. His jaw stiffened. "No, forget it. I shouldn't have asked that. You don't have to say anything."

Parrish's gaze fell a bit. "Like water," he mumbled. He slowly looked over at Lydia. "Like when you stand under falling water. Those first moments, everything was heightened. My adrenaline, my tension, my fear, but then it all became…soothing." He let himself be lost in the memory of earlier tonight. "I was so scared when the flames touched me. I never screamed so loud before and or for so long. But after a while, I realized that I wasn't in pain. The flames were scaring me but they weren't hurting me. The next thing I knew, I heard you scream my name and found myself standing in the police station, covered in ash and my clothes all burned away."

Lydia straightened up a bit as she looked at the soft expression on his face. She found herself moving her hand to lightly rub at his cheek. She couldn't help but think that she knew exactly how Parrish had felt tonight. She had gone through the same thing after Peter had bitten her. "I'm sorry."

They just looked at each other for a few moments before Stiles called Lydia and told her that they should get going. She nodded and she and Parrish shared one final look before she went to follow her friend.

The Sheriff went and climbed into the passenger seat and looked over at Parrish who was staring hard at the steering wheel. "You okay?"

Parrish shook his head. "No. I don't think I am."

"Yeah," he breathed. "Me either."

Parrish then moved to start the engine and started to drive them both back for the station.

Stiles took Lydia back to his room and they hung up the new code onto his board of the Benefactor. Next to it, a picture of her grandmother with Maddy.

* * *

Scott moved to get ready for school. He saw that Stiles had sent him a text that he and Lydia were still working on the new code. He just hoped that it was something that could finally get them to the Benefactor before someone else was attacked and killed. As he was moving for the door, his eyes fell on the bag of money still under his bed. He checked to see that his mother wasn't around before he moved to close his door and went over to it. He pulled it out and opened it to gaze upon the thousands of dollars inside. He then dropped it onto his bed and started to count it. As he stacked the bills, he found his heart rate going a touch faster as the number went up in his mind. When he finished, he saw that it was a solid 500 thousand. He let out a deep breath. Half a million dollars. He then saw that his hand was shaking a bit. He quickly moved to take the money and put it back in the bag and he zipped it back up. He let his heart settle a bit before he got up and headed off for school.

* * *

Stiles had his eyes closed and was fumbling his fingers as he stood in thought, ignoring the beeping from his printer that stated it was out of paper. He and Lydia were trying to find the Cypher Key for the new code.

"Try Maddy," he said suddenly. "It's got to be Maddy."

Lydia raised an eyebrow. "Doesn't Maddy feel a little obvious for a Cypher Key?"

"Guarantee it's Maddy." But Lydia typed it in and it wasn't. "Uh okay. Well, your name. Your grandmother left the code for you, right? It's got to be your name." She typed in Lydia but that hadn't been it. "Your mom's name?" She tried Natalie, it didn't work either. Stiles started to bite the inside of his gums. "Uh…do you have any beloved family pets?" He then smelled and saw Lydia's annoyance growing. "Hey, I'm just trying to help."

"Well your help right now is no help," she sighed out.

Stiles moved to sit down next to her and rested his head on the table. He tried to take a reset and figure out what they had to be missing. "Okay, the ashes were left for you. The code was left you. You're supposed to be able to figure this out."

"But no one else is, which is making it hard."

The printer then started beeping again and Stiles snapped. "Okay, that's it." He moved to grab some paper and he thrust it inside the printer. "Okay? There." He then backed off and the printer suddenly started printing but Stiles froze. "No one knows but you," he muttered.

"What?" Lydia asked him.

"You. That's it. This whole time we've been thinking that it has something to do with Lorraine, right? So, we've just assumed that the key has something to do with her but what if it has something to do with you."

"Me? What about me?"

"Well, maybe not just you but you and your grandmother." Suddenly, he remembered the talk that he and his dad had with Liam about his anchor. How he used a memory of them arguing about curly fries to stay in control because it meant something to just the two of them. "What do you remember doing with her? Something that might've not meant anything to anyone else but was special for you two? Did you two go to the beach or like the same ice cream?"

"We read," she told him.

"Okay, what did you like reading?"

She shrugged. "The Little Mermaid."

He widened his eyes at her. "You _read_ that movie?"

She gave him an annoyed look. "It was a book first. Hans Christian Andersen."

He nodded. "Okay, then type in the Little Mermaid."

Lydia typed in Little Mermaid and then Mermaid but each one failed. She shook her head. "We read it every night. Like I was obsessed with it. For three months I wouldn't respond to anything but Ariel." She smiled a bit then. "It drove my parents crazy but-" She froze. "Grandma thought it was adorable.

Lydia then typed in Ariel and then they watched as it was accepted and then unlocked a new list. But as the list broke down, the printer started spewing out papers.

"Recognize any of these?" Stiles asked her.

"No," Lydia told him. Lydia's finger was moving down the list. The list that had its last name as her grandmother, Lorraine Martin. "Just my grandmother."

He then became frustrated with the printer and moved to pick up the nearest paper and his face fell. "Oh man."

"What?" she asked him.

He looked up at her with his face paling a bit. "We need to call Scott. And Liam."

* * *

Liam walked in through the school doors and his eyes wandered. He felt that everyone around his was looking at him. Looking calculating and suspicious. Like any one of them could just jump out at him any second. And someone did.

"Liam," Mason said startling him. "Hey, am I going to see you at the bonfire tonight?"

Liam tried to settle himself back down. "Uh, actually I'm thinking about skipping it." Right now, he wasn't exactly in a partying mood.

But Mason shook his head. "You're not skipping it."

"Why not?" Liam asked a little nervously.

But Mason was smiling. "Because you're on the lacrosse team. Don't you have to go?"

Liam shook his head. "I…I don't know." He then turned to the side and blinked. It looked like a Berserker was standing down the hall. He turned away. "I don't think I can make it."

Mason's smile vanished. "You're coming," he told him like he didn't have a say. "And we're going to find you a nice girl that you could embarrass yourself in front of and find me a lacrosse player because, statistically speaking, someone on your team has to be on my team. Right?"

Liam barely heard him. All he could see and think about was a Berserker coming down the hall. It's tall and unbreakable pose not faltering as it stomped towards him. He snapped out of it when Mason called his name. "Right, I'll be there." He then went and moved to get far away. He headed over to get to the locker room as fast as he could. He turned around and noticed the Berserker turning down the hall and was still calmly following after him. Liam's breathing quickened. He was about to get into the locker room when he felt someone grab him and Liam reacted. He moved to grab the wrist and pushed it back while squeezing it. He saw that it was a fellow lacrosse player and quickly let him go.

"What the hell Dunbar?" the guy said as he rubbed his hurt wrist with his other hand.

"Sorry," he said quickly. "What do you want?"

"I was just going to ask if I could borrow your helmet during practice. You didn't have to kung fu grip my hand," he bit at him.

"You scared me," he piped in.

"Yeah, well you're scaring me so I guess we're even." He then walked away from him as he kept rubbing his wrist and spread his fingers out.

Liam sighed before he moved to sit down. When Stiles taught him that move, he said that it didn't work on just guns but also could be used on guys with knives, claws or even punches. At least he knew that it did work. He guessed that was a small consolation as he tried to keep himself calm and tried to think of his dad and hear his voice telling him his game slogan. He didn't see Scott had been watching from across the room.

But then Coach Finstock came on inside. "Alright!" he called out to get everyone's attention. "Now I know the start of season bonfire is a big deal for you guys. I also know that it gets out of hand sometimes. The alumni show up, there's other teams and alcohol. Lots and lots of alcohol." That made everyone start cheering and clapping, well, save for Scott and Liam who were all kinds of depressed. "Shut up!" he told them. "Now, what I don't understand is why anyone would want to get drunk in front of a massive, stumbling fire. But I'm also resigned to not being able to stop you guys." They all cheered again. "I'll also remind you that your team captain, McCall, will be there. And I can count on him to narc on any and every one of these little bastards. Get back to class!" he told them.

Scott looked over to the benches but saw that Liam had gone before Coach had finished.

Liam was sitting on an empty staircase. Everyone was at class right now so the halls were all empty. He was fumbling with the net of his lacrosse stick, just trying to not lose himself in his dark thoughts. He rubbed at his eyes as he had barely gotten any sleep after what happened with his printer. The good feelings he had previously had long vanished. Those good thoughts were all replaced with a thousand new scenarios that played nonstop through his mind. Scenarios that ended with him having a blade thrust into his heart or a bullet getting emptied into his skull. Or...getting ripped apart by those Berserkers that made him feel so small and helpless the night before. He could hear his mom screaming out in horror and see his father's broken face at seeing his body. And during all of that, some nameless person would be flipping through millions of money he got from killing him. He jumped when he heard footsteps but saw that it was just Scott and turned away.

Scott moved down the stairs and sat by him. The anxiety he was picking up from Liam was thick enough to cut with a knife. "Hey," he said lightly. "If I touch your shoulder, you're not going to try and grab my hand with your kung fu grip, are you?" he tried to joke.

Liam didn't. He just let a big breath out. "Go ahead."

Scott lay his hand on him but Liam kept his gaze away. "Liam, you okay?"

"Last night, my printer went on by itself. I couldn't turn it off. I hit the cancel button but it just kept printing."

Scott felt his spine going cold all of a sudden. "Printing what?" Liam reached into his pocket and handed him a paper.

But before he could really read it, they heard the Coach cry out in shock and anger. "What the hell is this?!"

They ran to his office to see that his printer was going crazy. It was printing page after page of the same thing. The Deadpool.

Liam then quickly took some and pulled Scott aside. "Notice anything?"

"Derek's not on the list anymore," he realized from the first part. And he looked at the third part. "Meredith's gone too."

"Yeah, and I'm not worth 5 million anymore. And Stiles, he isn't ten anymore either."

Scott gasped as he saw the new numbers and moved to pull out his phone to call Stiles.

Before Stiles could hit the call button, he saw that Scott was already calling him and put it on speaker so Lydia could hear. "Hey Scott," Stiles said as soon as he picked up. "You read my mind. I was just about to call you. We just cracked the Cypher Key."

"You did?" Scott's eyes widened. "What was it?"

"It was a list of names."

"More?"

"Yeah, but these don't have numbers on them. But we found something else. You have to find Liam."

"He's here with me and we found something else too," Scott told him. "It's the Deadpool. It's changed. Well, what you and Liam are worth has changed."

"Yeah, we know," Stiles said glumly. "My printer went and started printing up the new Deadpool by itself, just all of a sudden."

Liam stiffened. That was just like what happened to him.

"So you know?" Scott asked.

"Yeah," Lydia chimed in. "We know. Liam, he's like me now. Worth 15 million, and Stiles is now worth 16 million."

Scott shared a look with Liam while Stiles shared one with Lydia. All four of them were thinking the same thing. With this new change, that meant that the four of them together, now made up the highest marks in the Deadpool.


	18. Perishable part 2

Chapter 18: Perishable part 2

Noah Stilinski was standing outside the cell where Haigh was sitting, on the floor, with his back against the wall. The deputy was looking down at his hands with a grim look on his face, trying not to look up at the Sheriff's hard one. Finally, Noah broke the ice.

"Haigh," he said in a controlled tone. He pulled out the copy of the Deadpool he had taken from the man and unfolded it to hold it up. "How did you get this?" Haigh didn't answer. He just kept glaring down. "Did you just find it or did someone give to you? And if someone did, I need to know who." But Haigh kept quiet and the Sheriff started to get impatient. "Your career is over Haigh, nothing is going to change that. But there might be a chance to salvage what's left of your life and I can help do that but only if you tell me what you know, and now." Haigh just kept silent. Noah let out a heated sigh. "Alright. If you prefer to have it that way, then fine. I don't really care either way. You tried to kill Parrish, one of us, for money. And I know that you were planning on trying to kill my son too. Following him and you even confessed it to Parrish before you tried to kill him. Whatever happens to you from here on out is what you deserve. For five million dollars, hope you think it was worth it," he finished unsympathetically.

Noah left the cells and went into his office where he saw Parrish waiting there next to an open box filled with stuff.

"He say anything?" the young deputy asked. The Sheriff shook his head. "To be honest, I wasn't expecting him to."

"Yeah," Noah grunted. "Well, hopefully we won't have to depend on him to." He then walked over to gaze into the box that Parrish left on his desk. "Let's see if we'll find some answers in here. Is this all of his stuff?"

Parrish nodded. "Completely cleaned out his desk. But, shouldn't all this just get sealed up and delivered to IA?"

"Normally, but the last thing we want is for the wrong person to find something that leads them to the Deadpool and have a repeat of this happening."

"Is this how it's going to be now? Us bending rules and going around regulations like this?" Parrish mumbled out.

Noah could see Parrish looked a little bothered by it all. "Yeah, it makes me slightly uncomfortable too. But then I think of my son getting tortured and his friends getting attacked and the ones that did it are still free and can stay that way since technically, there is no evidence of it having happened like marks or scars since they all could heal. After that, it doesn't bother me as much."

Parrish's face fell a bit as they moved to start digging through Haigh's belongings. They start going through them to find anything that links back to the Deadpool or Benefactor.

Parrish pulled out a small pencil box and looked through it with a sour face. "It doesn't look like there's anything here."

"Yeah," Noah said as he pulled out Haigh's wallet and started looking through it. "Well, the chances he would keep something that important in the station was a bit of a longshot." He gazed at the pictures that Haigh had but his fingers felt that one of them was thicker than the rest. He opened it and saw that there was something folded behind one of them. He pulled it out to find that it was a folded strip of paper. He unfolded it and his bottom jaw dropped a bit.

There was then a knock on the door and they turned around and saw Stiles and Lydia standing there. They both looked a little winded and nervous. Noah quickly pocketed what he found.

"Lydia? Stiles?" Parrish said to them as they moved in and Stiles closed the door behind them. "Something happen?"

"Oh, many somethings happened," Stiles told them.

"We cracked the new code," said Lydia.

Noah stiffened. "What was it?"

"Another list of names," she told them. "We need help finding out who they are."

"Alright, Parrish,"

"Already on it sir," Parrish said before the Sheriff could finish. He then went out for his desk with Lydia following behind him.

This left Stiles standing in the office with his dad. Noah saw that Stiles was staring at the ground, subtly shaking a bit. That tended to mean that Stiles had something that he was struggling to say but was having trouble getting out.

"Stiles? Something wrong?"

Stiles caught his father's eye, looking hesitant. He knew that the latest development was going to hit his dad hard, but after last night, his dad made it clear that he wanted him to not keep things like this from him anymore. He just hoped that he didn't regret this.

He took a deep breath and moved over for him, taking out the folded papers in his pocket. "There's something you should see."

Stiles handed the new version of the Deadpool to him and Noah's eyes widened when he got to his son's name. "You're worth 16 million now?"

Stiles sighed deeply. "Not just that." He showed him the third part. "Liam's gone up too. 15 million," he said in a monotone.

Noah shook his head at the numbers. "Why? Why are you both worth more now?"

"Because Derek isn't on the Deadpool anymore. Meredith's gone too. Their 16 million dollars got split and added to me and Liam's values." Stiles rubbed nervously at the bottom of his cheek as his dad's eyes were glued to the papers.

Noah looked at the list and saw that both of their names were indeed erased. He also noticed that there were names crossed out. Names of people that were already dead. No, not dead. Killed. "Meredith committed suicide," he mumbled. "No one could claim the one million dollars she was worth. That's why she's gone but why is Derek out?"

"Well, according to Scott, it's because Derek isn't a werewolf anymore?"

Noah finally looked away from the list and to his son. "What?"

"Whatever Kate did to him when she made him a teenager again, it started to sap away at his powers. Little by little, until he doesn't have them anymore."

"Oh," Noah said as if that was actually supposed to make any kind of sense. "Wait, isn't that what happened to you? You don't think Derek's, you know-"

Stiles scoffed. "No, if he was possessed by some evil spirit, he would still be on the list. Actually, with Derek I don't think it would have really made a difference," he shrugged. "Point is, he isn't supernatural anymore so there's no reason for the Benefactor to want him dead anymore."

Stiles watched as his dad started pacing, like he usually did when too many stressful thoughts started hitting him all at once. Noah's mind was beyond stressed though. With Stiles at 16 million, he was now the second most valued target, below only Scott at 20 million. The level of danger that he was in now just skyrocketed.

"I don't understand," he finally mumbled as he turned to face back at him. "Why you and Liam? There are plenty of other names still not crossed out. Why was it the two of yours that went up? Why are you, Scott, Lydia and Liam worth so much?"

Stiles shrugged. "I don't know dad. I guess the Benefactor just really wants us dead."

Noah narrowed his eyes at that. "What, you mean like it's personal for him?"

That made Stiles stiffen as the thought started to bounce around in his mind. This might actually be a clue to the Benefactor's identity. Someone that had a personal axe to grind with the supernaturals in this town, them in particular. "Maybe."

The two stared at each other as they mentally tried to connect this new dot to everything when the door opened and Lydia stuck her head inside.

"We've got something," she told them.

Stiles and his father moved to leave the office and head over to Parrish's desk.

"What have you got?" Noah asked him.

"Well it's not another Deadpool. More like an Already Deadpool," he told them when they got to him.

Stiles narrowed his eyes. "Every one?"

Parrish nodded. "All within the last ten years."

"Murdered?" asked the Sheriff.

Parrish shook his head this time. "No. Actually they were all suicides."

"But they all died at the same exact place," said Lydia.

Parrish then scrolled down and showed the Place of Death.

"Eichen House," Stiles read out with a mumble.

Parrish went and started to print up some copies of them.

"We've got to go there," said Lydia. "Find out what was going on with each of these people and how they relate to my grandmother."

But Stiles shook his head. "Those things are sealed under patient confidentiality. We would need warrants to get their files. And we can't do that without probable cause."

Lydia widened her eyes at him. "My grandmother left me a list of ten names, including her own. This could actually lead us to finding out who the Benefactor is and why the Deadpool was made. How is that not probable cause?"

But Parrish gave her a look. "Unfortunately Lydia, I'm not sure the legal system is ready to accept a banshee's intuition as probable cause," he sighed out.

Noah went to the printer and started taking the files in his hand as they were coming out. He gave them a quick skim and found a familiar name on the bottom. He then took out the second one and saw the same one. "Hey guys, according to this file, the first suicide was found and reported by the same one who found the second one." The third one was printed and his eyes widened. "And this one too."

"What name?" asked Stiles.

"L. Brunski," he answered.

Stiles, Lydia and Parrish all went to share a look. After all the incident files were printed, they found that Brunski's name was listed as the one that found and reported all of them. Including Lorraine Martin.

"Okay, there is no way this is a coincidence," Lydia muttered.

Stiles shook his head. "No, two is a coincidence. Dad, what the hell is ten?"

Noah narrowed his eyes. "Well, I would think that ten would be way passed a crime wave."

"Wait," Stiles said before he looked over at Lydia. "Wasn't Brunski the one that brought you to Meredith?"

Lydia nodded. "Yeah, he was. And he was there when we talked to her the whole time."

"Hang on," Parrish cut in. "What does all this mean?"

"I think it means that we have more than one reason to visit Eichen House now," Noah told him.

Stiles bit his back his cheek. "Oh wait, I almost forgot. The Bonfire party tonight."

"You're not actually going to go, are you?" Lydia asked him. "We're so close."

As part of the team, as an unwritten rule Stiles was required to go. But to go after the trail of the Benefactor was too important. Yet there was another reason for him to be there. "I know. But Scott's going there to keep an eye out. And, I know he told Liam not to go but the kid was looking forward to this thing for the last week so I know he's going to ignore Scott and go anyways. I can't leave either of them alone, especially now. You're all going have to go to Eichen House without me."

But the Sheriff could see that Stiles wanted to go, Well, maybe not wanted, more like his son felt he needed to be there. And frankly, he felt Stiles was needed there too. So he suddenly said, "I'll go."

"What?" said Stiles.

"You go with Lydia and Parrish to Eichen House. I'll stay and head over to the school and watch everyone at the Bonfire."

"Dad, are you sure?"

"Yes. I think having one cop will be enough and I know that you can all can take care yourselves. Besides, there might be things there that only you could understand so we need you there. Don't worry, I'll keep your friends safe."

Stiles shared a long look with his father before he found himself nodding. "Okay."

"Alright." Parrish then stood up and went to put his police jacket on. "Let's get going then."

"Yeah," Lydia said in a small voice before she followed right after him as he moved for the main doors. Stiles was right behind her.

"Stiles," Noah called out before his son could leave. Stiles turned and looked at him. "Thank you." Stiles spared a second looking at him before he moved to catch up with the others. He didn't need to ask what his dad was thanking him for. Noah watched the door close before he sighed and reached into his pocket. He pulled out the paper he found hidden in Haigh's wallet and glared at it for a moment before he shoved it back into his pocket. He made his way over to the deputy currently on duty at the front desk. "I'm heading to keep watch over that bonfire they're having at the school. Call me if anything comes up." The deputy nodded and Noah quickly took off.

He got into his car and drove off, and a van started to pull into the parking lot a few moments later. The front doors to the station opened and the deputy looked up to the five men that walked inside.

"Can I help you?" he asked them. Two of them started to walk off and head over into the office area. The deputy jumped over to stop them. "Hey, you can't go in there!"

But one of the other men pulled out a nightstick and clocked him over the back of the head when he went to stop the others. He then reached for the deputy's belt and took the keys hanging from it and tossed them over to the first two.

In his cell, Haigh was still glaring at the floor when the door opened and two sets of feet moved into the room. Haigh assumed it was the Sheriff and Parrish but he looked up and saw that it wasn't them. One of them reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded bunch of papers and flicked it over at him.

Haigh picked them up and unfolded them. As his eyes scanned it, he smirked slightly. "Well, what do you know." The man then moved the keys he took earlier and opened the cage. Haigh walked out and the others came and dragged the unconscious deputy inside the cell in his place. "Let's go crash a party."

* * *

The kids all gathered outside the high school and watched as the torch was being brought to the pyre. It was placed at the base and everyone screamed out when the whole thing went ablaze to signal the start of the party. The DJ began the music and the lasers started to shine through the night.

Noah Stilinski sighed heatedly as everything started up. He had gone home first and changed out of his uniform. He knew that the last thing these kids wanted was to see was their badge and uniform wearing Sheriff in their sights as they were trying to have a good and wild time. Besides, this way would help him spot trouble better. Also, he had made a quick phone call to have heated words about what he found in Haigh's stuff but it had gone to voicemail. As he looked around, he wondered if it was something he should confide in the kids. He was divided on it as he knew they wouldn't take it well, especially Scott. He then spotted Liam with his friend Mason. He saw that Stiles was right about him showing up. He also could see the bottle in his hand. Now, he knew from his son that werewolves couldn't get drunk but it didn't seem as if Liam knew that little detail. Regardless, he couldn't ignore this and found himself heading over to talk to the boy. It wasn't a good idea for him to be out and about like this anyway. Not with his bounty on the Deadpool triple what it was before. But someone went and bumped into him.

"Oh, excuse me," he said to them. But his eyes widened at who it was. "Malia?"

Scott was moving through the crowds of dancing and screaming people, taking in everyone and everything as he moved for the fire. So far, everything seemed normal enough. He then spotted members of the lacrosse team. They were all cheering and jumping up in excitement. He also noticed that all of them were in their jerseys. Scott looked down and realized that he was the only one that wasn't wearing his. The whole point of this bonfire was to celebrate and show support for the team coming into the season. He was the team captain and he was the only one of the team there not being part of the team. Well aside from Stiles, Kira and Liam. Stiles was on the Benefactor's trail, Kira was with her mother as she was still recovering and he told Liam to stay at home. Scott sighed in frustration. If it weren't for this Deadpool, they would all be here together, enjoying the party and having fun. Being normal, just like everyone else here was doing. Scott let himself scan the area, his eyes widened when he spotted a familiar werecoyote dancing in the crowd. She was swaying in place with a flask in her hand, in front of a man. Scott's eyes widened when he saw that it was Stiles' dad.

"Hey," he called out to them. "What are you doing here? Both of you?"

"My job," the Sheriff told him.

Malia held the flask out at him. "Getting drunk. What about you?"

"Trying to make sure no one gets hurt."

"That sounds fun too." Malia then went to take a deep drink from her flask.

"Whoa, easy with that," Stiles' dad moved to try and push the flask away but she moved slightly so that she was out of his reach.

Scott could smell the heavy booze inside that thing. He knew that she and Stiles were going through a rough patch right now with the whole Peter thing. Stiles, he was being quiet about how he was taking it. Actually, outside the business with the Deadpool, Stiles wasn't really saying anything to him. Scott guessed that his work in trying to find the Benefactor was distracting him from what he and Malia were going through. But Malia, it was clear that she was here to try and distract and lose herself in all the noise and alcohol here. "Uh, I don't want to ruin your night or anything but we kind of can't get drunk."

"What?" Malia asked him, seemingly half listening. She was still just dancing in place.

"You can't get drunk," Noah spoke out. "My son told me that alcohol doesn't affect werewolves. I'm guessing the same might fall on werecoyotes?" he asked looking over at Scott.

"Yeah, I think it has something to do with our healing. Trust me, we've tried it. You're not going to feel anything."

"Which reminds me," Noah said before pointing over at where Liam was. "We should probably talk to him."

Scott looked over and spotted Liam sitting off to the side with Mason. He was in his lacrosse jersey and was pouring alcohol into some soda and spiking it.

Liam went and took a hard drink and emptied his bottle in one swing. He then looked over and saw that Mason had been watching him with a calm but somewhat concerned look on his face. But his friend wasn't saying anything. "You're not going to tell me to slow down?"

Mason shook his head and held his hands out. "Actually, I was going to tell you to keep drinking. I think you should get drunk. And I mean stumbling down, fall on your ass, passed out, face in the toilet drunk," he said with a small smile on his face.

Liam let a small laugh loose. "Why?"

Mason's smile fell off. "Because, maybe then, when I ask you what's going on, you'll be too drunk to lie." That made Liam's gaze wander away from him. "I'm not asking because I want to know. I'm asking because I want to help. Honestly, I'm not sure you need it. I mean, I've noticed that you've been hanging out more with those guys, Scott and Stiles."

Liam looked back at him. "Wait, you're not jealous, are you?"

"What?" Mason said a little surprised. "Me, jealous? No." Liam just kept looking at him with somewhat dewey eyes. Mason then gave a small shrug. "Okay, maybe a little bit. You know, I called your house the other day. Your mom said that you had gone to sleep over at a friend's house. One of theirs I'm guessing." Liam stayed quiet and that was all the confirmation he needed. "Seriously, what's up? I mean, first that whole thing when you vanished and how Stiles seemed to know how to find you. Then you bailed while we were playing video games at my house when you heard about that quarantine at the school that Saturday when they were there taking their PSAT's. What's going on with all of you?"

Liam sighed. He would like to tell his friend everything. About being a werewolf, the Deadpool and about the pack but he couldn't just drag his friend into all this craziness. "Mason, dude, it's…complicated," he told him.

Mason nodded. "Yeah, I bet it is. Look, I'm sure whatever is happening with you and those two and their friends, it's something that I'm actually going to find either cool, disturbing or both. But, whatever it is, there's something I don't want you to forget and its actually simple Liam."

"What?"

Mason calmly looked at him for a moment before answering. "That I'm your best friend."

Liam stared at him for a moment before he looked down at his empty bottle. "I'm going to get some more, so I can get stumbling down, fall on my ass, passed out, face in the toilet drunk."

Mason looked up as Liam went off to get more. "Yeah, you do that." He then shook his head and sighed in amusement.

* * *

Stiles was gazing upon Eichen House right outside the front gate. He couldn't believe he was actually back here again. He flinched when he heard the sounds of a girl screaming and a guy crying out in pain all the way from where he was standing through his wolf hearing. To him, it seemed to be like echoes as they hit his ears. He couldn't help remembering this place's second name. Echo House.

Parrish opened the gate and was about to step inside when he looked over and saw that Stiles wasn't moving. "Hey," he said making him snap out of it. "You okay?"

"Uh, yeah," he said after clearing his throat.

Lydia could see that Stiles was having bad vibes about being here again. Coming back to this place couldn't be easy for him. "You sure you're up for this?"

"Well no," he muttered. "But we don't exactly have a choice here, do we?"

Stiles then moved on and walked passed the two of them before walking for the main doors. Lydia shared a small concerned look with Parrish before moving to follow after him. Parrish then stepped on through and the gate shut behind him. Parrish went to the front desk to request a chance to talk with Brunski with Lydia by his side while Stiles hovered nearby. Stiles saw that the place didn't seem to have changed much since he'd last been here. One or two people were vaguely familiar to him but he just tried to keep his head down and not take too much in.

"Stiles?"

Stiles pulled himself out of his own world and back to this one and looked over at Parrish. "So?"

"Well, Brunski is currently in his office taking his break. But, we could head on there and see him for a few minutes."

"Great," Stiles muttered. They needed one thing to go right today.

"Alright, so what's the plan?" Lydia asked. Stiles was silent for a moment and Lydia widened her eyes at him. "You do have a plan, right Stiles?"

"Yeah, of course I do. Just…give me minute," he said as he wracked his brain a bit. "Okay, me and Lydia will go and see him."

"Without me?" Parrish asked him.

"Having a cop there won't help us get what we need. But, there is something we need for you to do."

"What?"

* * *

Derek went and gave Braeden a lift to the Sheriff's station as she wanted to question the deputy that tried to kill Parrish. Derek had insisted that Stilinski had already tried to question him but he wasn't talking. Braeden was sure that she would get him to talk. stepped into the Sheriff's station to find that the front desk was unattended. She quickly pulled out her sidearm and flicked the safety off.

"Hello!" she called out as she kept herself on high alert.

She walked into the office area and found that the Sheriff wasn't there. She carefully moved to check the cells and saw that there was a deputy there, but it wasn't Haigh. He was out and was lying flat on the floor, face first, as his hands were handcuffed behind his back. Braeden went and opened the cell door before reaching into her pocket and pulling out a handcuff key. She freed his hands and then slapped at his face causing him to stir awake.

"What?" he asked as he looked blurrily at her. "Who are you?"

Braeden flashed her badge at him. "US Marshall. Tell me what happened here? How did Deputy Haigh get away? And where's Sheriff Stilinski?"

* * *

Scott and Noah just stood there as Malia was dancing to the music as if they weren't right there.

"Malia, we didn't tell you about Peter because-"

"Because you were trying to protect me," she cut in as she looked at him. "Yeah, that's what he said you'd say. And you know what he said to me? That you were right. That surprise you?"

"No, it makes me concerned," he answered.

Malia was still dancing and went to take another hard drink from her flask but the Sheriff quickly grabbed and yanked it out of her hand.

"Alright, enough," he said sternly. "Scott," Noah looked over at him. "Go and deal with Liam. I think Malia and I need to have a minute."

Scott could hear that his friend's father wasn't making a request and he quickly nodded. "Okay." He wanted to talk to Liam anyway. Scott saw that Liam was moving for where the drinks were and reached for him. Liam flinched and moved to grab at Scott's wrist but the Alpha was able to bat his attempt away and grab him instead. "Liam relax, it's me," he quickly told him.

Liam took a deep breath and settled himself. "Sorry."

"It's okay." Scott narrowed his eyes as he let Liam's hand go. Liam's reach for him actually had some technique behind it. It wasn't a typical reflex, it was a trained one. Thinking back to this afternoon when he grabbed that other player, it looked roughly the same. Liam was taught it. But he shook it away. Now wasn't time for that. "Liam, what are you doing here?"

"What do you mean?" Liam blinked at him a bit. "I'm just here to have a good time. Being with my best friend, talk with some girls and get drunk with my team." Liam let his eyes land where the alcohol was. "And I'm not drunk yet." Liam started to wobble a little as he started to head for them.

Scott sighed as he moved to hold him by the shoulders to keep Liam from going around him. "No. Liam, it isn't safe for you right now," Scott told him sternly.

Liam narrowed his eyes a bit. "It's never safe. I just want one night where I can just…forget."

Scott sighed at Liam's tired tone. Honestly, he understood where Liam was coming from right now. He'd been exactly in Liam's place back when this started and would've come to do the same thing. But things were different now, especially for him. "Look, I get it but Liam, you're worth a lot more now so you have to be even more careful. Especially when you're in a place full of people." Liam just sighed and turned to look away from him. "Anyway, it doesn't matter. You're a werewolf now so you can't get drunk."

"What?" Liam muttered as he started swaying where he was. Liam's vision was getting a little blurry. He saw Scott looking at him in concern as he said his name which sounded a little distant to his ears.

"Liam?" Scott said again as he noticed that he was swaying and couldn't seem to stand still. Liam then started leaning back and looked like he was about to fall. "Whoa," he said moving to catch him. He then helped Liam move down to one knee and steady him. "Wait, you are drunk," he gasped.

"Liam?" Scott looked up to see Mason running for them. "What's wrong with him?" he asked Scott as he knelt next to his friend.

Malia tried to take back her flask but Stiles' dad pulled his hand back and kept her from getting it. She gave the Sheriff a sour look before she moved to keep dancing where she stood.

"So, you know about Peter."

That finally made Malia turn back to him. She didn't stop dancing completely though. She was just swaying slowly in place. "What, that he's my father? Yeah. He told you?" A part of her was a bit madder that not only did Stiles' father also know before her but Stiles had told him but didn't tell her.

"Actually, I told him," he said unflinchingly.

Malia's eyes widened. "How did you find out? Peter said it cost him a lot of money to find out what he knew…and it wasn't a lot," she said as she twirled in place.

"Well, he's not the Sheriff. And I happen to know people that are willing to help by just asking them for it. You don't have to pay or even threaten them for it either." Malia turned a bit away from him. "Malia, don't be mad at Stiles. He just didn't want you to be hurt."

"I don't want to talk about Stiles," she nearly spat at him as she turned back to him. "I just want to dance." She then quickly reached for him and grabbed back her flask. "And get drunk," she said before she quickly took another drink.

"No, stop!" Noah said grabbing and pulling her wrist to separate it from her. "Malia, I get that you're upset. But, if you really want to find answers, then talk to your dad."

She was still swaying a little bit. "I already talked to Peter. He doesn't know anything. Said his sister took his memories away."

"I wasn't talking about Peter. He may be your father, but he's not your dad." That made Malia finally stop. He could see that Malia knew who he was talking about. Henry Tate may not be her father but he still saw Malia as his daughter. He remembered both the pain of recalling her a few months ago as well as the happiness in his eyes when Malia was brought back to him. That was the kind of thing that a real father should have. Peter Hale, on the other hand, was a man that had killed his own niece and even kill and then use his nephew. He didn't do anything for anyone unless there was something in it for him. Now, he learned he had a daughter and it sounded like he was already playing his mind games with her. That wasn't someone for Malia to start turning to.

"My dad," she mumbled. Malia blinked her eyes tiredly at him before she started to lean to the side and almost lost her balance.

"Whoa," Noah said as he moved to steady her. He then looked over at her face and narrowed his eyes. "Wait, are you actually drunk?"

"Uh…I think so," she said as she moved her palm to hold on to her right temple.

"How?" Noah then looked to the flask. "What the hell were you drinking?"

"Nothing. Just vodka," she slurred.

Noah took a sniff from the top before taking a small sip and found that it was vodka. What was happening to her? Was she really just drunk, or was something else happening?

* * *

Stiles and Lydia were standing in front of Haigh as he was slouched back in his chair as he smirked over at the two of them.

The man let a chuckle escape him. "Well, well, well, look who's come crawling back." He then looked over at Lydia. "And the Martin girl too. You especially have a lot of nerve coming back here, given what happened during your last visit."

Lydia snapped her gaze away and Stiles detected the strong and fresh wave of guilt starting to pour out of her. Her reaction seemed to make Brunski more pleased with himself.

"Sorry but this isn't a social visit," Stiles muttered to him. "We're here on business."

"Business? Oh, and just what kind of business would you be here for? Something tells me its not for taking care of daddy's bill. You know, if your dad keeps trying to skip out on his bill then soon enough, he's going to have to arrest himself."

Stiles clenched his teeth and pushed down the sudden urge he had to take Brunski and just throw him into the wall. "Meredith Walker," he muttered.

Brunski's eyes widened. "Meredith? What about her? She's dead, in case you didn't know."

Stiles saw Lydia lower her head at the corner of his eye. "Yeah, we need to see her room."

"That so?" Brunski chuckled.

Stiles nodded resolutely. "Yeah."

Brunski narrowed his eyes at him. "And why would you need to see that?"

"Look, it's personal, okay. Can you just let us in. Two minutes, that's it."

Brunski leaned back in his chair. "Maybe. But…it'll cost you."

Stiles blew at the fringe of his hair. "What do you want?" he muttered.

The man made a small show of pretending to think about it but it was clear to Stiles and Lydia that he already knew what he wanted. "Uh…a thousand dollars."

Stiles' eyes widened. "A thousand? For two measly minutes in a room? Do you honestly think we have that kind of money?"

"Well, I know you don't," he laughed out at him. "That's why I'm asking her."

Brunski went over and pulled out a small cassette tape and put it in a player where it played some soft music. Stiles narrowed his eyes at it. That cassette tape looked exactly like the tapes the message about how to be paid in the Deadpool came in. Lydia seemed to notice too. Their suspicions about Brunski just rose higher.

Lydia reached into her bag and pulled out some cash. "I've got 500." She went over to hand it to him and Brunski rose to take it with a smug look on his face but Lydia pulled back at the last second. "But I want something else."

Brunski gave her a dry look. "And just what would that be?"

"I want to see my grandmother's file," she said unflinchingly.

"Your grandmother?"

"Lorraine Martin. Last time I came here, you recognized my name. You knew my grandmother, didn't you?"

He straightened up a bit. "Well, there are always some patients that you know better than others. Lorraine…well, she was special." He then reached over and took the money from her. "Fine. I'll take you to Meredith's room first."

"Good," Lydia said stiffly.

Brunski shooed the two of them away before he moved to close his office door behind him and then locked it. He then moved off to lead the way. Lydia moved to follow right after but Stiles lingered back. He went over to lean next to the door and moved his pointer finger to the door where he had his claw full extended. He jammed it into the small space between the door and molding and pushed back on the locking latch and the door opened slightly. He then quickly moved to stay in pace with Lydia so Brunski wouldn't get suspicious. They were passing around a corner and Stiles nodded as he moved passed it. When the three got far enough, Parrish came out from where he was hiding and carefully made his way down where they came from and saw that Stiles had gotten passed the lock like he had planned and he walked in and found that there was still music playing from the tape player he had left on.

Brunski brought the three to Meredith's room and he opened the door for them. Lydia was the first to walk in. She let her eyes fall on Meredith's now cold and abandoned cot. She rested her hand there for a moment, fighting the urge to start crying.

Stiles let his eyes wander and he took in the room. "Meredith hanged herself, right?" he asked as he stepped for the center of the room.

"That's right," Brunski said behind him. "Right at that lamp post in the center of the room."

Stiles heard his heart skip a beat. He was lying. Stiles' jaw stiffened. "When exactly was this?"

"Not too long after this one came to see her with that deputy. Guess it really bothered her."

Stiles ears twitched when he heard his name called. It was Parrish's voice. " _Stiles, I think I found something. Brunski, he was hiding Meredith's file. He was the one to find her, just like the others."_

"Oh," Stiles nodded. "It bothered _her_. Who found Meredith anyway?"

Brunski narrowed his eyes behind Stiles' back. "What is all this about? What do you kids expect to find?"

"Just some answers," Stiles said as he looked up at the lamp post. His nose twitched as he picked up the lingering scent of great fear centered around this very spot. And he could also detect that there was another person's scent mixed in with it.

"Oh," Brunski said as he stepped in. "Well, looks to me like you just found them all." He then brought out a small taser and jammed it into Stiles' back. Stiles stiffened and tried to move but Brunski pushed him into the wall as he kept zapping him. "It was the cassettes, wasn't it?" he hissed into his ear.

He then backed away when he felt Stiles' loosen his attempts to escape and the boy fell to the floor. Lydia gave a start and moved to run out of the room but Brunski grabbed her arm and quickly struck her across the head with the butt of the taser, knocking her out.

* * *

Noah watched as Scott was carrying Liam over by his shoulder along with another teen. He believed his name was Mason.

"Sheriff?" the boy gasped as they came over. "I almost didn't recognize you." He'd only ever encountered the man when he was in uniform.

"Yeah, kind of the point!" he shouted to him over the music before looking over at Liam as Scott sat him down by the tree next to them. "What's wrong with him?"

"I don't know," Scott told him. He then looked over at Mason. "How much has he had to drink?"

"Not enough to get him like this," he told him.

"Him too?" Noah asked, making Scott look at him nervously. "Malia, I think something happening to her too."

Scott saw that Malia seemed to be as drowsy as Liam was. "Okay, whatever's happening, we need to get them out of here. We've gotta-" But Scott was blinking a bit as he started getting light-headed.

Scott wobbled a bit before Noah moved to steady him. "Scott? What's wrong?"

"How much did you drink?" Mason asked.

"Nothing," Scott muttered. "Not even a sip." But he moved to lean his hand on the tree to keep himself on his feet.

"Scott, what's happening to all of you?"

Scott shook his head. "I don't-" But Scott blinked as he took in everything around him. He then spotted the DJ at the soundboard. He watched as he turned up the reverb and Scott felt the drowsiness hit him harder. "It's not the drinks," he realized. "It's the music!"

"The music?!" Noah looked over at the DJ as swayed the crowd. "How?"

"It doesn't matter. I have to turn it off."

But Scott was wobbling in place and Noah moved to sit him back down. "No. Scott, you could barely walk. Let me do it."

Scott blinked as the Sheriff seemed a bit blurry to him. Scott thought it was actually the smart move. He couldn't just leave Liam and Malia alone like this and Stiles' dad could easily stop this music with a wave of his badge. He nodded. "Just stop it."

Noah turned to Mason with a stern look. "Stay with them. I'll be right back."

"Okay," the boy nodded.

Noah then began to move through the crowd of people as he headed for the DJ. "Excuse me. Let me through. Sorry," he said as he tried to navigate through the dancing teenagers.

He was halfway there when he was grabbed and struck at the back of the head with a nightstick. Noah fell down to the ground and his body was being glared down at by Haigh. The man looked around and saw that no one was reacting to the Sheriff being attacked. The teenagers were all too drunk, or caught up in the music to notice or care. He then bent down and looked into the Sheriff's pockets.

Mason was kneeling in front of Liam and snapping his fingers at his face. Liam was just staring ahead with a dim look on his face and didn't even react to it. Malia was laying on the ground, not moving. He looked over at Scott and saw that he was breathing rather deeply and blinking his eyes fiercely, as if he was trying to keep himself from falling asleep.

"Okay, what is happening to you guys?" he asked.

"I…I don't know," Scott mumbled. "But, Stiles' dad will…he'll" Scott couldn't seem to find the strength to finish the sentence. In the next moment, some security guards made their way over to them and Scott saw them moving in and lifting Malia up from the ground. "No," he said as two others started to take Liam by his arms and carry him off. "Wait!" he cried as he tired to move for them but his feet gave in and he fell on his knees. He then felt a pair of hands pulling him up by his arms.

"Hey!" Mason said as he moved in their way. "Where are you taking them?" But they ignored him and kept on carrying them away. "These are my friends!" he yelled at them.

"Your friends are highly intoxicated," one of them said to him.

"Well, I'm going with them."

"We got this," the man said trying to move him out of the way.

"The Sheriff said I have to stay with them and wait for him here."

But the man had enough. He shoved Mason to the ground and he moved with the others to take the three of them off towards the main building. Mason was helped to his feet by two lacrosse players. He had to find the Sheriff. He realized that the music was still playing. The man hadn't stopped it like he said he would. He moved over to see what was happening and he noticed that there were some people crowding around and looking down at something. He moved on over and saw that it was the Sheriff. He was unconscious. He tried to shake him awake.

"No use bro. We already tried that," a senior said to him.

Mason noticed the vodka bottle in his hand. Mason grabbed it and poured it at the Sheriff's face. That made the man stir and then blink before he sat up and grabbed at the back of his head.

"Sheriff? You okay?"

"Mason? Wait, where are Scott and the others?" he asked as he wiped the vodka from his face with his sleeve.

"I don't know. Some security guys just took them. Right out of nowhere."

"Where did they go?" he pressed as he got to his feet.

"They headed into the school," Mason said pointing behind him.

Noah reached into his pocket but found that his gun was gone. He then noticed the bottle in Mason's hand and grabbed it. "Listen, I'm going to go help them. But, I need you to and stop that music."

"What? Why?"

"There's no time to explain. Okay? Scott, Liam and Malia are in trouble and need our help. So do whatever it takes. Whatever you have to, you hear me?!"

Mason nodded before he ran off for the DJ while Noah stomped for the school. He promised Stiles he would protect his friends and he damn hell was going to keep that promise.

Mason ran off and pulled himself to the platform where the DJ was and stomped over to him. "You got to shut it off!" he yelled at him.

But the DJ just pushed him aside. Mason grit his teeth and tackled the man. He then pulled the volume dial to its lowest. The DJ moved to grab and pull Mason away so he went and gave the soundboard a good kick where it fell over and crashed to the floor below, letting out some sparks when it hit. Immediately, the music completely ended and the speakers were all silent. The partying crowd let out a mix of boos and clapping cheers as they saw the sparking mess from the blown soundboard.

Noah turned back as he smiled at Mason's work before he managed to get through the sea of partying teens and was now running freely to the nearest way inside. As he stomped over, he heard a hard shout of, "Hey Sheriff!"

Noah looked back and saw both Derek and Braeden walking for him.

"Need some help?" Derek asked him.

* * *

In Brunski's office, Parrish was still going through his stuff when he found a file folder hidden behind some books in a shelf. He pulled it out and saw that it was Meredith's file. He saw that it listed as Brunski being the one to find her, just like with the others.

Parrish then went and turned the music off. "Stiles, I think I found something," he said out loud. Stiles had told him to speak out while he was searching as he would be able to hear him, even from where they would be taken. "Brunski, he was hiding Meredith's file. He was the one to find her, just like the others." Parrish then moved to turn the music back on so that Brunski wouldn't know anyone was in here. But, as he bent down to turn it back, he noticed a small compartment slightly open and pulled it back to see rows of cassette tapes. He went through them and saw that the first few were labeled as Mix Tape. But towards the back, there were tapes with names. Names he recognized as the ones on Lorraine's list. He took one of them and put it in the player and started to listen to it.

A few moments later, Parrish was running to Meredith's room and saw that the door was wide open. He pulled out his gun and ran inside to find it empty. No sign of Lydia, Stiles, or Brunski. However, on the floor was a folded piece of paper. He reached for it to find that it was the list of names from Lydia's grandmother. But, he saw that there was something knew. A new name was written on the bottom. The name was Stiles.

* * *

Scott was dragged through the halls until he was thrown along with Liam and Malia. He then looked up and saw about half a dozen guys altogether. And he saw that one of the men, who was balding, was carrying a large container.

"Check the halls. Make sure no one comes down this way," the man holding it told the others. Two of them went to do just that.

"What is that? What are you doing?" Scott slurred out.

"Gasoline," he said before he uncapped it and the smell started to leak out. "Haigh says we got to burn you."

Scott shook his head. "No, please don't do this."

"Sorry to do this to you kids but you're just worth way too damn much," said a new voice.

Scott looked over and saw Haigh standing there, watching him with his arms crossed. "Haigh?" he gasped out in shock. "But-"

Haigh turned to one of the others. "Go and connect to the list. We want to know the second it worked so we could get the hell out of here." One of them nodded and pulled out a laptop from a bag and headed into a classroom with a second guy. He then looked over at Scott. "I'm not going to make the same mistake twice. This time, we're going to make sure its done. But first, I gotta ask McCall, where's your buddy Stiles? His dad was here, so he's got to be here lurking not too far. Where's he hiding?"

Scott just glared at him. "What, so you can kill him too?" he spat out. "Like you wanted the other night."

Haigh chuckled at him. "You know, I'm actually glad that I didn't kill that kid when I had the chance before. If I had, I would've gotten ten million for my trouble. Now? Now putting him down lets me walk away with 16 million." Haigh then pulled out the gun that he took from Stilinski and quickly moved to spin a silencer into it and held it at his side. "Where is he?" Scott just gave the gun a nonchalant look. He just glared at him, not going to bend to him. That just made Haigh and his buddies around him chuckle. He then pointed the gun at Liam, who was stirring a bit but still out. "Where is he McCall?" he repeated.

Scott grit his teeth as saw the gun aimed at Liam. "I don't know." That answer only got Haigh to pull the silence back and Scott's breath got caught at the sound of the click.

Just then, one of their buddies ran over to them. "Guys, the soundboards got fried."

"What?" said Haigh.

When he was distracted, Scott tried to move but the bald man went and kicked him back against the lockers. "Forget it Haigh. The little bastard isn't talking." He then started to douse Scott with gasoline.

"What the hell?!" Haigh told him as he moved to cover Malia and Liam too. "Wait, we still need to find Stilinski's boy to get his 16."

"Why? We already have these three. Together, they're 39 million. That's more than enough for us all to split. We can get the other one later."

"But I have to leave tonight," Haigh argued. He wanted to be cut in on 55 million, not 39. If he left then the others would get him and be in on the 16 million without him.

"We just lost our edge," he told him.

"He's right Haigh. It's either this or nothing," one of the others spat at him. "Look, they're already starting to wake back up."

Haigh looked and saw that Liam and Malia were not only awake but were already trying to sit back up. He glared at his partners before looking back at the three kids and sucked his teeth. "Fine," he spat out.

Liam and Malia were starting to blink blurry eyed as the gasoline hit them but they opened their eyes just in time to see a man open a lighter and hold it right in front of Scott's face. It made Scott's eyes flare red as the flame passed over him. The heat from that fire made Scott's insides twist as he knew the moment that it fell then he and his friends would be engulfed in flames. He could see that the man was about to let the lighter go and his hand shot out like lightning. He gripped the guy's hand and quickly closed the cover, putting out the flame. He then grit his teeth as he began squeezing the man's hand so hard that they all could hear bones starting to break. The bald man gave a shout as he fell to his knees in pain.

The other people tried to react but they were halted by two new arrivals. Derek and Braeden moved in and started to attack them. The two that were in the classroom came out and moved to try and bring them down but Braeden and Derek charged and struck at them. Haigh quickly raised his gun, preparing to just shoot Scott himself, when a vodka bottle just smashed over the back of his head, knocking him down fast first. Scott, Liam and Malia looked over to see that it was Stiles' dad.

Noah then moved over and kicked the balding man away before giving him a good punch to the face. "You alright?" he asked, looking over at Scott.

"Yeah, we're okay." Scott muttered. He then looked over and saw that Derek and Braeden were quickly taking the last two of them out. "What happened to the guns?" he asked as they walked over.

"You're covered in gasoline," Derek told him, as if it was obvious.

"Oh yeah," said Scott, realizing that it was.

Derek moved to help Scott to his feet while Braeden moved to get Malia to try to stand while Noah moved to quickly cuff the man that he had punched. They were all so distracted that they didn't see Haigh lifting his head and moving his hand for his gun. All except for Liam. He caught Haigh moving at the corner of his eye and he seemed to be looking at the Sheriff. Liam found his eyes burn and the next thing he knew, Haigh threw himself to his feet and moving to shoot causing him to react.

Haigh's shout got the others to look over at him to see that Liam was gripping his wrist as he pointed the gun up. Liam twisted it causing the former deputy to let go of the gun. His pained face looked up at Liam to see the gold eyes and fangs just as Liam roared at him. He then grabbed Haigh by his collar and spun them around before tossing the man up where his back collided with the lockers on the opposite wall. Liam then moved to go and kick Haigh in the sternum, repeatedly.

"Whoa!" Scott said as he threw himself forward and pulled at Liam to get him away from Haigh. "Liam, stop!" Liam looked over at him and his golden eyes caught Scott's red eyes. "It's over, you got him," Scott said a little more gently but still kept his grip on him. "You can stop."

Liam took deep breaths as he kept staring at Scott and found his fangs receding and the glow from his eyes dimming.

Noah moved to pick up the gun from where it was dropped. "Well, I think my son will be happy to hear that his lessons aren't going to waste," he said in an uplifting tone.

That made Liam duck his head a bit but a small grin was creeping on him. Scott's expression softened a bit too but it was in concern rather than amusement.

* * *

Stiles came to and found himself tied up to a post by a chain. He also heard Lydia screaming out behind him. She was in simple handcuffs.

"Help us! Someone help!"

Stiles took a moment to see that they were in a eerily familiar place. It was the basement where he and Malia had gone and found all those abandoned files and the Nogitsune's former body. "Lydia, there's a lot of people screaming for help in a place like this. I don't think anyone's listening."

Lydia sighed. "Well, then break us out of here." Stiles took a breath and pulled on the chain to break it but found that it wasn't snapping. Lydia noticed too. "What's wrong?" she asked him.

"I can't." He moved to break free but found that his strength wasn't cutting it. "What the hell?!"

"Confused?" Both of them looked over and saw Brunski moving into the room and shutting the door behind him. In one hand he held a small metal case and what seemed to be a syringe pump in the other. He held it up in the room's dim lighting. "After I zapped you, I made sure to give you some of this."

"And what the hell is that?" Stiles muttered at him.

"Oh, just a special cocktail that we use on "special" patients that are brought in. This serum makes them docile…easier for us human orderlies to handle."

Stiles' eyes widened. "What?"

"You think you're the first freak to come in here?" Brunski asked as he stepped over to them. "I've come across your kind before." He then looked over at Lydia. "And yours."

"It was you," Lydia gasped. "All those suicides. My grandmother. Meredith. They weren't suicides. That's why my grandmother left me the message. She predicted her own murder and knew I would figure it out."

"Bravo," Brunski spat out savagely as he started to move to stand in front of her. "So clever. But I'm not a serial killer Lydia." He was now kneeling next to her and Stiles grit his teeth and pulled again to try and free himself but couldn't. "I'm not some psycho like Ted Bundy, going around cutting up college girls."

Brunski then opened the case and Stiles could make out some things in there, including a row of vials. One he took and loaded into the syringe pump.

"No, you're just an angel of death," Stiles sighed out as he looked away. "Right?" He heard of these kind of people before. People that believed that they gave the gravely injured or critically ill mercy by ending their lives to finally end their suffering.

Now Brunski moved to lean over him and grabbed him by the hair. "I don't think you understand my level of commitment to my work here Stiles.," he spat at him as he yanked at his hair to keep him still. "There aren't people here that simply need treatment. They need release. I help them. I helped Lorraine."

An angry tear fell out of Lydia's left eye. "You killed her," she said in a low voice.

Brunski then moved to lean over Lydia again and Stiles moved his hand to his pocket to quietly get his keys. Whatever he drugged him with was making Stiles unable to not only access his full strength but bring out his claws. He remembered something that Derek once did and needed to trigger his healing. He went and jammed his keys into the side of his leg, stabbing himself. He clenched his teeth in pain as Brunski started talking to Lydia now.

"I helped her. And now, you can help me. Because there is something that always bothered me."

He then pulled out a small cassette tape and Lydia saw that it was labeled Lorraine Martin. Brunski then reached over to reveal that inside the case was a small tape player. He inserted it in and pushed play. There was the sound of footsteps in the background as Lorraine's voice came into play.

" _What are you-? Brunski, what are you doing?_ "

Brunski's voice was then heard. " _Don't worry Lorraine, it's going to be alright. You're just going to have a little trouble breathing_."

Lydia knew what this was. It was her grandmother's death.

Stiles looked back. "Lydia, look at me. Don't listen. Okay, don't listen to it. Just, focus on my voice right now. You don't listen, block it out, okay." But Lydia was still shaking as they heard the sound of muffled breathing. Stiles grunted out angrily, trying to see if his healing had pushed enough of the drug out of his system to free himself. He could hear the metal whining a little as he pulled. His strength was coming back but it wasn't coming fast enough. "Turn it off!' he yelled at Brunski. That only made the man go and give him a good punch across the jaw.

"Shut up!" he spat at him.

"Stop!" Lydia cried out.

But Brunski went and tightly latched onto Lydia's cheek. "Listen," he hissed harshly at her. "Listen." The muffled breathing was still being played by the tape. "I need your help with this video." They then heard Lorraine pleading for Brunski to stop. "Here it is, this is the part that I never understand. Listen."

" _Please don't hurt her_ ," Lorraine said.

" _Hurt who_?" Brunski's voice asked.

" _Ariel._ "

Lydia gasped as she heard her grandmother call out that name. More tears were falling from her eyes.

Stiles straightened up as his nostrils could pick up the pain and distress that one word was causing in his friend. Ariel. That was the name that Lydia would only answer to because she and her grandmother loved that story and Lorraine had found it adorable. That was their thing. Just like curly fries were for Stiles and his father and a slogan was for Liam and his stepfather. Brunski was using it to torture her. Stiles' eyes started to flicker blue. His insides were burning and his rage was building as his heart started pounding like a jackhammer. His breathing quickened as it all built up. The flicker in his eyes started to shine brighter until it was a solid glow and Stiles roared. As he did, he pushed himself forward and the chain holding him to the post snapped apart.

"How in the-" Brunski gasped out as Stiles pulled himself away and moved to get to his feet. He turned to face Brunski with his blue eyes locked fiercely at him as he growled under his breath. He then struck his hands down viciously and brought out his claws. At the sight, Brunski quickly reached for the syringe pump and kneeled back over Lydia. "Don't!" he shouted as he held the needle to Lydia's neck. Stiles stopped in mid-step. "Pen Chromium," he smirked. "Enough is loaded here to put down two or three wolves. I was going to use it to help free you from your hell Stiles." Brunski then leaned over until his cheek nuzzled Lydia's temple. "Move another step and I'll help her instead."

Stiles was breathing deeply as he heard Lydia frightfully whimper under Brunski's tight hold. Brunski smirked at him. But the door opened and Parrish came bursting in with his gun quickly trained on Brunski.

"Drop it!" Parrish spat as he got closer. "Slowly withdraw the syringe from her neck and back away.

Brunski sneered without turning around. "Oh young deputy. You just can't. I bet you never even fired-"

But he never finished as Parrish just let out a shot that struck him in the back. Stiles then quickly moved over to kick the syringe pump far from where it dropped.

"You two alright?" Parrish asked as he kept his gun trained on Brunski who was just laying where he dropped, being completely still.

"Yeah," Lydia squeaked.

"How did you find us?" Stiles asked as he went to break the chain on Lydia's cuffs and free her from the wall.

"Heard your howl," Parrish told him with a soft look. "Take this." He then tossed him his handcuff key and Stiles moved to get the broken cuff off Lydia's wrist.

"It was him," Lydia cried out as Stiles helped her to get to her feet. "He was controlling Meredith."

"He used her to create the Deadpool," Stiles threw in.

"And he killed her when she tried to help us," Lydia finished up.

"He's the Benefactor," Parrish put together.

Stiles nodded as he glared down at Brunski. It made sense. He had killed Meredith but her money wasn't claimed. It was pushed onto him instead. That was because Brunski was the one paying all these people to begin with. Trying to give his "help" to all the supernaturals in Beacon Hills. Be its angel of death.

But Brunski started spitting up blood and Stiles pushed Lydia behind him while he stood to be at Parrish's side as they looked down at him.

He was laughing at them. "You think it was me? That I was controlling her?" He laughed at them more as blood kept spilling from his mouth. "You're supposed to be clever." He then settled himself. "She was controlling me."

Stiles listened as Brunski's heart gave out and stopped beating. "He…he was telling the truth," he told them, sounding confused.

"Oh god," Lydia gasped. "It's not him. He's not the Benefactor."

Then who was?

"No," they suddenly heard to the side. They turned and saw Meredith, alive and well, looking calmly at the three of them before gazing down at Brunski. "He wasn't on my list. But he was a bad person."

The three of them stared at Meredith wide-eyed. It was her. Meredith was the Benefactor.


	19. Monstrous

Chapter 19: Monstrous

The front of the Hale House had a black Camaro with the trunk wide open with a giant suitcase already loaded inside. Peter and Derek were walking over to it, carrying two small boxes filled with Laura's things.

"I can't believe that Laura's really leaving," Derek mumbled as he set the box in.

Peter then loaded in the box he was holding. "Well, this time next year, you'll go off to college." But Peter ducked his head to give a small snort.

Derek narrowed his eyes at him. "And just what is so funny?"

Peter tried to put on an innocent face. "Oh, nothing."

His tone meant that it was anything but nothing. Derek guessed that his uncle's amusement must have to do with his current GPA. Even he had to admit, the last year hadn't been his most impressive. He barely managed to get a C- average last semester. To be fair, with everything that had happened to him over the last school year: Paige, his eyes changing, and then with the team making it to the finals, he hadn't really been putting as much efforts into his studies as he could've.

"I just had a bad year," Derek spouted defensively.

Peter raised his eyebrows at him. "Is that really what you're going to use to call it?" Derek shrugged uncomfortably. "Well, don't worry. You'll be able to make sure that you won't have a repeat of that happening again. You'll have all the time you need to focus on school."

"What?"

"Well, since you won't have to worry about the team this year or that girls won't approach you after what happened with your last girlfriend, you'll have all the time to keep your mind on your grades."

Derek's face hardened at that and he stomped off. From the front door stepped Talia with Laura carrying the last bag with her stuff and Cora was trailing behind them.

"Where's he going?" Talia asked as she saw Derek's form rushing off. "He's not going to say goodbye to Laura?"

"I think I said something that upset him a bit," Peter said as he rubbed the back of his head.

Talia sighed at her brother. "Yeah, that wouldn't surprise me." She then looked over at Laura. "You sure that you have everything?"

Laura rolled her eyes at him. "Yes, mom. For the tenth time, I'm okay. If I've forgotten anything, I can always come right back. I'll only be over three hours away. Besides, I'll be back in over two weeks for Ray's wedding." She then placed her last bag into the trunk and then closed it. She smiled as she looked the car over. "And thank you again for the car," she said in squeaking glee.

Now it was Talia's turn to roll her eyes. "For the tenth time, it was my pleasure. You earned it Laura. You were a great help this year. Took care of everything around here while I was busy with my Alpha duties and kept your grades high. I'm proud of you." She finished by bringing her arms out and her daughter quickly moved in for a hug. "Oh, don't forget to check in every once in a while."

"I won't," she promised as they broke away. Laura then looked down at Cora. She went and bent down slightly to be at eye level with her. "And you, you have to take over my sisterly duties with our brother. Make sure that Derek doesn't go off the deep end. Don't be afraid to give him a good whack when he's being an idiot."

Cora smiled. "Can I still do it when he annoys me?"

Laura laughed. "Hell yeah."

The two of them softened their faces a bit before they went into a warm but tight hug before they separated a few moments later. Laura got back to her feet and then turned to look at her uncle.

Peter held a restraining hand out at her. "Oh, please don't get mushy with me."

Laura rolled his eyes. "Please, I'm not that depressed Uncle Peter."

But Peter gave her a small smile nonetheless. "I will miss your sad attempt at humor."

"I'm sorry that Derek couldn't be here," Talia told her daughter while giving her brother a stern side look.

But Laura shook her head. "It's okay. I'll call him later."

With that she started to go into her car and start it up. Peter and Cora moved to stand beside Talia as they watched Laura begin to pull out. They all gave small waves as the car drove off and moved to get to the road. Cora let out a small depressed sigh before she decided to head on inside leaving her mother and uncle alone.

Peter was still watching where the car disappeared. "Well, there she goes," he muttered.

Talia was staring off too. "I know. They grow up, it's inevitable."

"That's not what I meant." Peter turned to look at her. "Our pack's now down a strong member."

"We'll be fine," Talia shrugged. She wasn't worried.

But the same couldn't be said for Peter. "How can you say that? The Argents are still in town. It's been over 5 months since Deucalion's disaster of a truce. His and the other packs all moved on but they're still here."

"And they haven't done anything," she reminded him.

"Yet," Peter hissed. "Do you think the hunters are really just hanging around for no reason? They're up to something Talia."

Talia didn't blink. "I think you might just be paranoid."

"Well I know that you're just being careless," Peter said back. "The Argents are planning to come after us, you know that, don't you?"

Talia's jaw tightened a bit. "Gerard is gone and far away from Beacon Hills. It's his son Chris who is overseeing the hunters here now."

Peter's eyebrows rose up. "So that means they could be trusted? Didn't he already try to harass Ray over two months ago?"

Talia finally broke her composure and looked at him. "Now when did I ever say I trusted them? I'm no fool Chris. It's the reason why I'm keeping the pack separate for the moment. So they don't know just who we all are."

"So then, what are we going to do about them?"

She narrowed her eyes. "Nothing."

"Nothing? That's your solution?!" he asked incredulously. "We just sit around and twiddle our thumbs?"

"Of course not but we're not going to be the ones to strike the first blow. If and when they do, then yes, I'll deal with them. I've even gone and asked Satomi and her pack and they'll back us up if we need it. Look, we're starting to get back some semblance of peace back after that disaster with Deucalion's damn treaty attempt and I intend for it to stay that way for as long as possible. So, for the time being, we stay away from the Argents." Her eyes narrowed harder at him. "Do you hear me? I mean it Peter," she finished sternly.

He sighed but nodded. "Fine." Talia then moved to head on back inside but Peter narrowed his eyes after her. "Not a fool? Right. You're going to be in for a shock when this all blows up in your face big sis," he hissed to himself. "When it does, everyone will see who the real Alpha is."

His glare was being looked at through the binoculars being held up by Chris Argent. Next to him was his sister Kate. They were deep in the thick of the woods, downwind and far enough away to make sure that no sounds they made would alert them immediately to their presence. They had spied the entire exchange that happened between the whole family as Laura drove off.

"So, it looks like the Alpha's eldest is really gone," Kate remarked as she leaned back a little on the rock she was perched on. "Heading off to Berkeley."

Chris lowered the binoculars to look at her. "How exactly did you find out that she was leaving today?"

Kate just smirked at him. "I have my sources. The real question is what are we going to do about it?"

"Do? Nothing," he told her.

"That girl is next in line to be Alpha and she is now separated from the pack. We have to do something. If dad were here, you'd know that he'd expect something to be done."

Chris let his head slag a bit. "We can put a tail on her but it will have to be one or two men. Too many will attract attention, especially at a place like Berkeley. But they'll only observe."

"Right," Kate said in a tone that clearly told him that she wasn't buying it. "What about the rest?"

"Well, it seems like they're keeping to themselves as usual. I think that Talia is going through extra lengths to hide the identities of everyone else in her pack from us."

"Which wouldn't have happened if you hadn't let that beta of hers catch you following him and warn her. We would've found every member of the pack and be out of this town by now."

"It's just a minor setback. She's trying to cover their tracks but we'll find just how many members she has in her pack. She won't be able to conceal every wolf from us forever. They'll all reveal themselves eventually. It simply means that we might have to stay in Beacon Hills a little while longer."

"Well I actually hope it's sooner rather than later. This sneaking around and covert surveillance is really getting old. I don't know about you but I'm itching for a good hunt."

"We keep to the code Kate," he told her sternly.

Kate rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, I know."

He sighed at her. "Don't worry, it's not in their natures to deny their nature for very long. Eventually, they'll lash out. It's only a matter of time before one of them snaps and then the need for sneaking and surveying will be over. We'll have our hunt Kate, all we have to do is simply wait." Chris looked back through the binoculars and spotted Peter alone. He could see a small glint coming from his eyes as he stared off. "And, something tells me that wait won't be too long."

"No," she muttered to herself as Chris started walking off. "It won't."

* * *

It was pouring hard when two young werewolves were running through the parking lot where the school buses were parked. The girl tripped but was quickly grabbed by Brett and helped up to her feet.

"We can't stop!" he said before pushing her. "Run!" The next moment, an arrow went and lodged itself in his back. "Go!" he screamed as he ran after her.

Brett ducked as another arrow zoomed passed. He got to the front of a bus where he was ambushed by a hunter. The man tried to whack at him with his crossbow but Brett blocked it. But the man punched him at his side, before slamming the crossbow down on his head when he was stunned. Brett fell to the floor and looked up to reveal his golden eyes. The hunter moved to strike at him again but Brett leapt forward and pushed him into the fence before he took off to catch up with his sister Lori. He found that she was running off for the lacrosse field. He called after her to stop her, as they would be out and exposed, but she kept running. Brett ran after her and the two of them were now in the center of the open field. One by one, the stands lights started turning on, bathing the place with light and exposing them.

Lori then noticed that there were red dots covering them. "Brett! Brett, what's happening?" she cried.

Brett knew what this meant. He had hoped that they would be able to get some help but it didn't look like it would be coming. He just sighed in defeat. "Close your eyes." He told her before he followed suit.

Lori pulled on her brother's arm as she closed her eyes and stood behind him. They then heard a hard whistle as an arrow went and flew for Brett's heart but a sword came and batted it away. They looked over and saw Kira.

"Run!" she screamed at them.

Brett and Lori quickly ran just as more arrows flew for them. Kira moved to stand in the way and spun her sword as she intercepted them all.

"Which way?!" Brett yelled back.

Suddenly, a man dressed in black flew off from a hidden spot and landed hard on the ground. That surprised the three of them before they heard a hard growl coming in that direction.

"There!" Kira shouted at them.

Brett and Lori ran for that direction while Kira stood behind them. She backed up and twirled her sword as more arrows came flying out for them. She quickly intercepted each one with super fast precision, not letting one through. Brett was tugging on his sister's arm as they ran off the field, into the grounds.

"Where are we going?" Lori called out to Kira behind them.

"Just run!" she said as she ducked from one last arrow before they got into cover.

They came to a stop when a man with a crossbow stumbled backwards from out behind a corner. The siblings stiffened and Kira gave a yelp behind them as the man looked over at them. Kira readied her sword but, a second later, the man just collapsed.

"What?" Brett gasped.

A second later, Stiles stepped out from that same corner, partially shifted and breathing a little heatedly. He quickly jammed his foot down on the assassin's right ankle, breaking it and making him cry out in pain before he locked his blue eyes on the three of them.

"Stiles?" Kira cried out.

"Hurry," he told them as he pointed to the side. "My jeep is in the parking lot. Go!" he yelled at them.

Immediately, the three took off running. Stiles bent down to the moaning man and grabbed the crossbow. As he stood up, he noticed a silver band around the guy's neck. He quickly yanked it to see that it was a necklace and his blue eyes flashed at the sight. But his hearing picked up the sound of a lot of people heading for his direction and he quickly took off after the others. The jeep's doors were already wide open and the engine had been left running. Kira, Brett and Lori rushed inside and closed the doors a second before Stiles threw himself into the driver's seat. He threw the crossbow on the dash before he yanked the door closed, put the shift in Drive and sped them the hell out of there.

After a few seconds, he looked over at the mirror where the siblings were sitting in back. "You two okay?" They nodded as they tried to catch their breath. "You?" he asked Kira.

"Yeah," she nodded.

* * *

Scott was throwing on his jacket in his room before he reached over for his helmet and also grabbed his spare. He then went down the stairs to where Liam was waiting for him.

Scott handed him the spare helmet. "Kira found Brett. They're fine and with Stiles but we've got to go."

"More assassins?" Liam asked.

"Maybe a lot more."

"Different from the ones that just tried to set us on fire?"

"I think so, yeah," Scott said as if it was no big deal. "Come on." But Liam wasn't moving. He was just staring at the helmet for a moment before he set it down. Scott then set his own down. "How about I take you home?" he suggested softly.

Liam looked nervously at him. "Look, I'm sorry. But, I'm not like you."

Scott shook his head. "Not yet. You were amazing back at the school Liam. You saved the Sheriff."

But Liam shook his head. "I just reacted. I saw the gun and just reacted to it like I was trained."

Scott's face fell a bit. "Like Stiles trained you? He taught you that thing with the gun."

Liam nodded. "Actually, it was fun. And now, I have an anchor now, I'm kind of getting the hang of all my new senses. It's been helping a lot, but, it's not about any of that. It's about you, Stiles and all your friends. How you're always trying to protect people. I mean, we just got out of nearly getting killed and you're running off for more? I don't think I'm cut out for that." Scott softened a bit at that. "Have you all been doing this the whole time? How are all of you even still alive?"

Scott's gaze dropped. "Not all of us are," he mumbled. He then moved to hand him the spare helmet. "Let me at least take you home."

Liam reached for the helmet and followed the Alpha out of his home.

* * *

Lydia was in the station, sitting outside the Sheriff's office looking at Meredith through his window. She was facing out in front of her as the Stiles' father was speaking with Parrish.

"We've taken everything from Brunski's office and are getting ready to go through it but there might not be anything helpful in there," Parrish told him.

"Well, hopefully this girl will be able to give us everything we know." The two of them turned to give Meredith a pointed look from behind the glass. "This is really her? The Benefactor."

"That's what it looks like," said Parrish. "What I don't get is, why?"

"Add that to the list of things we try to find out when we question her."

"You think she'll really talk?" the young deputy asked doubtfully.

He sighed. "Let's hope so." He then moved to bring his hand out. "Thanks for protecting my son and Lydia."

Parrish moved to shake his hand. "It was my pleasure."

Parrish looked over and watched Lydia for a moment as she finally tore her eyes away from Meredith to look over at them. They caught each other's gaze for a second before he sighed and moved to handle the rest of the work that their trip to Eichen left him with.

Noah was heading over to Lydia and lightly grabbed her shoulder. "Are you alright?"

She nodded. "I've been through worse."

Noah took a moment to lament on how true that was. He then noticed that a particular someone wasn't there. "What happened with Stiles?" he asked a bit on edge.

"Don't worry, he's fine," she told him quickly. "When we were coming back, he separated from us. Said that he got an emergency text and said he had to go to the school."

"What kind of emergency?"

Lydia shook her head. "He didn't say. But, if I had to guess, it involves people trying to kill someone."

"Fantastic," he muttered heatedly to himself. "But, if there's one thing I've learned, it's that Stiles has a way of handling things like this and coming back in some way. Right now, we have our own thing to handle in all of this." Noah narrowed his eyes over at Meredith who was still staring off and not moving a muscle. "Maybe we should call in a psychologist, or a medium?"

"Is she even competent enough to be charged with something?" Lydia asked as Meredith hadn't moved a muscle since she's been there.

"If Meredith is the Benefactor, then that means she was competent enough to trick Kate into opening the Hale Vault. Competent enough to blackmail Brunski into helping her. And competent enough to create a hitlist and pay out money for its completion," he told her sternly and mercilessly. "This girl is practically a criminal mastermind."

They looked over and saw that Meredith was now looking over at them. However, she turned away when they noticed her looking.

"There's got to be a reason why she would do this." Lydia didn't want to believe that Meredith was the kind of person to pay to have people killed for the hell of it.

"I'm only interested in the why, if it tells me the how."

"How to stop it?"

"After what just happened with Scott, Liam and Malia, this is still going. The payments could be automatic. And as long killers keep getting paid and paid well, that list is gonna keep getting smaller." And he didn't want his son or these any of the kids to be taken off.

"We don't just need to stop the Deadpool," Lydia realized.

"We need to stop the money." His phone was vibrating and he pulled it out to look at the caller id. "It's Stiles," he said before he moved to quickly answer it.

* * *

Henry Tate was pacing in his kitchen, his loaded shotgun was resting on the table while he was wearing a holster with his handgun nestled in it. When he heard steps on the porch, he pounced.

"Malia!"

"Yeah, it's me," she said as she started opening the door.

Henry dashed over and quickly took Malia into a tight hug. "Oh, you're okay," he said before he let her go. "I heard about the attack at the school. More assassins?"

"Yeah, but we got them."

"Is everyone else okay?"

Malia nodded. "They're fine."

Malia went off and stood off in her living room as she caught sight of a small photo on the table by her couch. It was one of her father, mother, sister and herself. Well, herself with her adopted father, mother and sister. They were all smiling as they were snuggled together. She couldn't tear her eyes from it, from watching their happy faces.

Her father noticed her silence. "Malia? Is something wrong?"

Malia sighed and tore her eyes from them to face her dad. The Sheriff had told her that her dad would be the best one to ask about finding some real answers. Maybe he could tell him some things that not even Peter knew, considering that his sister stripped him of all memories that centered around her. "Dad, do you know Peter Hale?"

His eyes narrowed. "Hale? Like your friend Derek?"

"Yes. Do you know his uncle Peter?"

"Well, I don't know any Peter, but I did know a Talia Hale."

"Talia?" Malia's eyes narrowed. "How do you know Talia Hale?"

"Well, I didn't personally know her, your mother did. The two of them had known each other since high school. They were best friends."

"What?" Malia was shocked. "Wait…you knew about the Hales this whole time?"

Henry shrugged as he looked back at his daughter in confusion. "What about them? Malia, what's going on?"

"I know dad. I know that I'm adopted." Henry took a moment to deflate a bit. "And I know who my real father is."

Malia took a few minutes to explain what she learned about the Hales and how she was Peter's daughter. He was genuinely surprised, she could tell.

"Malia, I swear, I didn't know. When your mother and I adopted you, we had no idea about any of this."

"How did you adopt me?"

"Sit down." Malia went and threw herself into the couch while he sat in the chair opposite her. "Long before your sister was born, your mother and I had been trying to have a child for a while, but it didn't look like we could go on and have one. But then Talia appeared and told us that she had a baby girl we could adopt. She said that your birth parents weren't around to take care of you but felt that we could give you the home you needed. Though, she did request that we give you the name Malia. Said it was a family name."

"And you both took me in," she put in. "Just like that?"

He nodded. "Well, before we did, I did try to ask Talia what happened to your parents. Your mother asked for some time to talk with Talia, afterwards she told me that your situation was too complicated to tell me. She said that she and Talia would go on to explain everything when you were old enough. She would always say that you were special. Now that I think about it, maybe she did know."

Malia took a moment to let that sink in. Her mother was always so hard on her. She could remember times that her mother said that she had to be more careful and show good judgment. Maybe she had known. But she was gone so she would never know. "And you kept me, even after my sister was born?"

Henry narrowed his eyes at her. "Of course we kept you. Malia, you were our daughter. How could you be anything else."

Malia went to look down at her knees. She wanted to scream and cry at the same time. "Do you know anything about my mother? Uh, my birth mother."

His jaw stiffened. "I remember a name. Talia told it to us."

Malia looked up and caught his eye. "The Desert Wolf?"

Henry was taken aback. "No," he shook his head. "Corrine."

* * *

Kira opened the back door and let in Satomi and a half dozen others. She stepped inside to gaze upon Brett and Lori.

"Are you two okay?" she asked them. They both nodded.

"We're okay," Lori mumbled.

"Thanks to Kira and Stiles," Brett then looked over at Kira.

Satomi shook her head. "Kira." Her tone was soft as she kept her eyes on the young girl as if she were a ghost but her look was one of fondness. "My…you're the spitting image of Noshiko."

Kira loosened a bit under her soft stare. "Satomi. My mom told me a lot about you. It's nice to finally meet you."

Kira went to extend her hand for Satomi to take but the woman went and engulfed her in a hug instead. They broke apart just as someone else came into the room.

It was Stiles. "Alright, I called my dad and-" He froze as he caught sight of Satomi. It was her. They may have never met, but he recognized her immediately. While he had been possessed, this woman had been on the back of Void's mind along with Kira's mother Noshiko. The werewolf who had fought and helped seal it up back at Oak Creek. "Uh…hi." That was all he could think to say.

Satomi looked the boy up and down. "Stiles." She kept his gaze for a moment before she nodded at him. "I'm happy to finally meet you, though, I wish it was under better circumstances."

"Yeah," he sighed. "I would've liked to have met you and your pack without people trying to kill all of us too." That made Satomi's lips curve up a bit. "But, it's still nice to meet you." He then reached over for her to shake his hand.

She did. "Well, thank you. Both of you for saving Brett and Lori." Satomi bowed to both Stiles and Kira. "How did you know they were in trouble?"

Kira spoke first. "My dad got a call about someone almost getting killed at the school. As soon as I heard, I ran over as fast as I could. I got there just in time to see them running from those people."

Stiles looked over at Brett. "And he sent me a message." He held out his phone to show Brett's SOS to them.

"After they all saved me from the last assassin, Stiles thought we should give each other our numbers in case either of our packs needed to contact each other." Brett went and gave his sister's hand a small squeeze.

"Yes," Satomi nodded grimly. "I would say that our packs need each other more than ever now."

Stiles looked at the half dozen people in the clinic. "Is this your whole pack?"

Satomi let her eyes drop a bit. "What's left of it."

"Are we safe here?" one of them asked. "Won't those people that attacked Brett and Lori come after us too?"

"After what happened, they'll probably regroup," Stiles told him. "From the looks of things, they weren't expecting to deal with more than two tonight. And, I made sure that at least two of them would be out of the game for a while."

"And the rest?" asked another.

"We don't know." Kira said to him. "But don't worry. Scott's boss rigged this place to be as safe as possible."

"With mountain ash," Stiles said dejectedly. "That's not going to help us this time though."

Satomi sighed. "He's right. The mountain ash won't protect us from what is after us now, because it's not supernatural. Sadly, our enemy is something that is completely natural. Greed."

Stiles stiffened at that. With the prices on their heads, things will only get worse. Now, it wasn't trained and professional killers who were out to get them, but normal people like his dad's deputy and those guys that tried to kill Scott and the others. And more were no doubt on the way. He'd come face to face with monster wolves, a lizard creature, a scratched up psychopath and a mad fox demon but this was scaring him more than ever. Derek had once told him that humans could be more deadlier than anything with teeth and claws. These last few weeks was giving real truth to that.

"So, where do we go?" asked Lori.

"Honestly, I don't think there is anywhere safe we can go," Stiles said out honestly. The strong hint of despair in the room grew thicker from everyone after he said that. He could understand that these people had been through a lot but he wasn't going to give them false hope. He didn't think they deserved that. "But," he quickly put in. "I do have some good news. We caught the Benefactor."

"You did?" said Kira while everyone's eyes widened. "When?"

"Just before I went to the school."

"Wait, so, what does that mean?" Brett quickly asked him. "It's over?"

"No, not yet. The attack on you shows the Deadpool is still in effect, which means the payments and process is all being done electronically. My father is questioning the Benefactor now to find out how they're doing it. If we could hold out just long enough to find how and where it's all being done, then we could shut it down. Once it's gone, the assassins should stop coming." Stiles could already detect spouts of hope springing up among the people there. Real hope, which is what he wanted to give them. And he would make sure that it wasn't in vain. They would find the Deadpool and stop the money, no matter what. He and Kira then went off to the side to talk by themselves. "How's your mom?" he asked her while trying to not look away from her eyes as he did.

Kira smiled a little softly at him. "She had to get some stitches and she's a little sore but she's okay." Stiles turned his gaze away from her but she quickly went to stop him. "She said that she'll take longer to heal but she will heal. It's not your fault, you know that, right?"

Stiles didn't look directly at her but he did nod a bit. "Yeah."

Kira then moved to pull out an arrow head from her pocket. "Any clue who those people at the school were."

Stiles narrowed his eyes. "Oh, I have a pretty good idea not only who but what they are."

But he didn't say any more than that because, just then, the front door's bell opened as it opened.

"Hello!" they all heard.

"That's Scott," Kira said before she and Stiles ran off to meet with him.

When Scott and Kira quickly caught sight of each other, the two of them ran and quickly grabbed each other into a hard and passionate kiss. Stiles froze and averted his eyes to stare anywhere but at them. The two of them kept at it for a moment before they slowly broke apart.

"Is your mom?" he asked.

"She's okay," Kira told him.

"What about you?"

"Me?" she asked.

"Are you okay?"

"Right now, very."

The two of them then went back into another kiss but it only lasted for a few seconds before Stiles cleared his throat.

"You're okay. I heard about what happened."

"Everyone's okay. Thanks to your dad, Derek and Braeden." Scott stared at Stiles for a moment. "And you?"

"Yeah, I'm alright," he said before he pointed behind him. "Better than them at least."

Scott moved over to see that it wasn't just Brett and his sister but also Satomi and over a half a dozen other people.

"Satomi, this is who I was talking about," Kira told her.

But Satomi nodded. "I know who Scott McCall is."

"So, what do we do now?" asked Lori.

"We stick together," Scott told her.

Stiles nodded. "Sounds good to me. How about all of you?" he said out to the room.

Everyone smiled, some even gave out a small laugh, including Satomi.

Scott smiled. "Looks to me like they're on board." Scott then took Stiles, Kira and Satomi off into the waiting area so they could talk away from everyone. "How many were there?" he asked his friends.

Kira shook her head. "I don't know. Maybe ten?" she asked as she looked over at Stiles.

He shook his head. "More. And, they weren't your typical assassins."

"What do you mean?' asked Scott.

"They were armed with these." Stiles then pulled out the crossbow he pulled from that man. "And Brett was shot with an arrow. It was laced with wolfsbane. That's why we came here. To get some of Deaton's antidote, which I'm totally not paying for by the way," he said pointedly but Scott sighed sadly at him. Stiles' face hardened. "Take a look at the arrow." Kira then handed him the arrow they pulled out of Brett. The way it was designed was all too familiar to him. "Scott, these weren't just any professional killers."

Scott realized it too. "They were hunters."

"We need to find a better place to hold everyone out in," Stiles sighed. "Somewhere secure with like concrete walls, thick metal doors, maybe some motion sensitive lasers." His playful sarcasm made Kira and Satomi's nerves settle a bit. Stiles snapped his fingers. "Hey, how about Derek's loft?" he suggested.

"No," Scott shook his head. "It's too easy to break into. The Calaveras hardly had to put in a fight. But, I think I know another place."

"Great, where is it?" Stiles asked him.

"Argent has this warehouse. It's big and reinforced with steel doors. There's not too many ways in and hardly anyone knows about it. I think it might just what we need."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"He's not even here," Scott tirelessly pointed out.

"You sure about that?"

"Yes."

Stiles' face fell a bit. He felt that it wasn't a good idea to go near anything associated with Argent right now, considering what he had just found. His hand flew into his pocket where he took hold of what he had pulled from that hunter he stopped. He considered pulling it out to show to Scott but ruled against it. If he did then Scott would just get defensive and argue against him. He was not in the mood to fight with Scott right now, especially when he knew that Scott would do everything to make sure he wouldn't win.

Satomi eyes noticed the tension that Stiles had at the mention of Argent. She knew the name all too well and she knew the history that these two young wolves had with the family. Especially with them and Stiles. It was understandable that there would be bad blood between them. Yet, she sensed that there was some underlying issue relating between the two of them that seemed to spark at the mere mention of them.

Stiles swallowed his discomfort down. "Fine, but take them straight there now and we don't tell anyone else where you're going."

Scott caught what Stiles just said. "Wait, you're not coming with us? We should be sticking together."

"I need to go and try to track down the Deadpool. If we don't stop the money, then we'll all keep getting picked off one by one. Don't worry, I'll stick with the others. Uh, what happened to Malia?" Stiles asked him.

"After that whole thing in the school, she went on home. I saw your dad call her dad and tell him to help keep her safe."

Stiles sighed in relief. He knew that Henry Tate would do everything he could to protect her. "Good. And what about Liam?"

Scott looked over at the girls. "Could you give us a minute?" he asked them.

Satomi took Kira by the arm and the two of them went off to the opposite side of the room. Stiles looked Scott over and saw that he seemed rather tense and he could already smell a hint of anxiety and resentment coming off him.

"What's wrong Scott?"

"Stiles, how long have you been training Liam?"

"What?"

Scott narrowed his eyes. "You heard me. How long have you been training Liam?"

Stiles shrugged. "Ever since the Quarantine. And I wasn't training him, I was just showing him some stuff."

"Like how to disarm armed gunmen and lashing out at people?" he accused.

Stiles narrowed his eyes at him. "More like how to find an anchor and protect himself, you know, so he doesn't wind up accidentally killing people or getting killed. He needed help Scott."

Scott cut him off. "What he needs is to not be dragged into this Stiles. Liam's just a kid."

"Yeah, well that is not going to make a difference to the people that would want to kill him now, does it? Besides, it's not like I went and forced him into anything. Liam came and asked me if I could help teach him and I said yes. He has to learn how to handle it Scott."

"Maybe." Scott straightened himself up. "But that wasn't your call to make Stiles."

Stiles straightened himself too. "Well someone had to make it."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Stiles seemed to say that accusingly at him.

Stiles rolled his eyes. "You know what Scott, figure it out."

Scott huffed angrily before he looked over to see that Kira and Satomi could still see them. No doubt could also hear them. "Look, this isn't the time for this right now. We'll talk about Liam later, after we deal with all this."

"Fine. Wait, where is he anyway? Wasn't he supposed to be with you?"

His face fell a bit. "I took him home before I got here."

Stiles' eyes widened. "Wait, you left him at his home, alone? Why?"

"He didn't want to come. Said he couldn't handle it. So, I took him home."

Stiles shook his head. "You just said that we all had to stick together, but you dumped Liam off."

"I didn't dump him," Scott said defensively. Stiles then moved to head out but Scott grabbed him. "Wait, Stiles, where are you going?"

"What do you mean, 'where am I going?' I'm going to get him."

"Stiles, that's not what Liam wants."

But Stiles pulled his arm free. "Screw what he wants Scott, that's not what's important for him now," he spat before he took off.

"Stiles!" he called after him. Scott was about to run after him but Satomi stepped in.

"Scott," she said stopping him in his tracks. "Let him go. He's doing what he feels he needs to do. Right now, everyone else needs you to be here, with us."

Scott let his eyes move from Satomi, to Kira, to Brett and Lori who were looking from around the door. They were all looking at him with sincere need in their eyes. His shoulders slumped down as he sighed in resignation.

* * *

Liam was sitting in his room, just staring out into space. His hair was freshly damp as he had worked hard to clean off the hard smell of gasoline that had stuck to him from the fresh attempt to kill him. He meant what he said to Scott. He wasn't cut out for this. He was no hero, no protector, no fighter. He was just a kid with some anger issues that went and got bit by an Alpha because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. He can't help the others save the people in this town.

Suddenly, Liam's head rose up when he heard a noise coming from downstairs. He quietly moved to open his door and listened out. There was a soft creaking, like someone was moving around. His stepdad was at the hospital and his mom had left to pick him up. He was supposed to be alone. He slowly went down the stairs and found that his front door was wide open. He moved to close it. Right after he did, something quickly moved behind him. Liam quickly turned around as he heard it but it was already gone. His heart was pounding like a jackhammer. Was it another assassin?

"Look, whoever you are. I don't want any trouble," he called out. "Alright? I've already called the police. Okay, so just go away and stay away. Alright? I don't want to do this anymore!"

There was then a creak over in the next room. Liam quickly moved to run off in the opposite direction, for his back door. When he was one room away, something hard slammed into him and he found his face being pushed against the floor.

"Dead."

Liam's eyes widened as he stopped struggling. "Stiles?" he said, with his voice muffled.

Stiles then let go of him and Liam pushed himself to his feet.

"I got to say, I'm disappointed," said Stiles. "It was too easy to catch you by surprise. You would think I hadn't taught you anything."

Liam glared at him. "What the hell are you trying to do Stiles? Scare me to death?!"

Stiles put his hands to his hips. "No, but if I did then I'll consider it a bonus."

"What are you doing here?" he asked, feeling annoyed at the older werewolf.

"I could ask you the same question," Stiles snapped at him. "Liam, why are you here, all alone? Now, of all times?"

"Look, I'm sorry. Scott wanted to bring me with him to help you guys look after the others but, I can't do it. Okay? I can't do this anymore. I just…want out."

Stiles brought his bottom lip out a bit. "Oh, you want out? Well, why didn't you just say that from the beginning? Of course you can be out," he said with a soft and delicate tone.

Liam sighed out in relief at the understanding tone that Stiles had but it quickly was replaced with a hiss when the guy went and gave him a hard slap at the back of the head. "Ow, what was that for?!"

"To try and knock some sense into you! Liam, what were you thinking? You're here, all by yourself, and you're still on the Deadpool for 15 million dollars. What if it really was an assassin? You really think that he would've changed his mind and not kill you just because you said that you didn't want to do this anymore? Liam, these people don't care. I thought you got that already. You said it yourself, remember? You're nothing but a walking pile of money to them. That hasn't changed. Well, actually that's not true. Now, you're triple the amount of money you were before."

"But Scott said I would be okay-

"Well Scott's wrong," Stiles cut in. "Liam, your home is not some kind of safe zone from all this. In fact, it's only worse. What if assassins had come and tried to kill you as your parents were coming home? Or, what if they had been waiting for you to get back home and your parents were already here?"

"But, they're not on the Deadpool," he quickly argued.

"If hurting them got them more closer to getting your 15 million dollars than not hurting them, do you really think they'd care? The Chemist sure didn't care about infecting and killing innocent people at the school just to get to us. And Brett and his sister had a team of hunters shooting at them tonight. Together, they're worth 1 and a quarter million. Do you think they would've been safe from those people if they had just gone home?"

Liam sighed as he looked around and realized what Stiles was saying. "I can't stay here, can I?"

Stiles shook his head. "It's not just about them Liam. Whether you like it or not, you're a part of the pack now. That means you're ours to look after and right now, looking after you means making sure you're not alone." Liam seemed to be trying hard to not look at him. "Look, if don't feel up to helping Scott trying to protect the others than stay with me. I'm going to be trying to run down a lead on the Deadpool. I know my dad would feel better if I wasn't alone tonight too. And I could use some help."

Liam sighed. "Okay. Let me just leave my parents a note telling them I'm staying at a friend's."

Stiles rose his eyebrows at him. "Oh, we're friends now?" he said with a small joking tone.

Liam rolled his eyes at him but moved to go and leave a note for his mom to find. "Alright," he said when he was done. "I gotta go and get my stuff."

Liam ran up to his room to throw on some jeans and put on some shoes.

"Set?" Stiles asked and Liam nodded as he finished tying his shoes. He nodded and Stiles moved to grab Liam's jacket and threw it to him. "Good, come on."

"Where exactly are we going?" he asked as he moved to put it on.

"To my place. But first, we need to head to Scott's house and pick up something."

"What?"

Stiles reached into his pocket and pulled out the cassette tape labeled Lorraine Martin that he took off Brunski. "He has something that can play this for us."

* * *

Two hunters were at their temporary hold out as they were inspecting their weapons. There was a some kind of noise outside that made them stiffen.

"Go check it out," one of the them said to the other.

The guy moved to grab an automatic while the other prepared his two handguns and moved to stand in a place for cover. The first one moved outside and slowly moved to check the perimeter. He only got four feet when he was blindsided by Chris Argent. He struck him and then threw him into the door where it flew open and he fell inside. Chris then stepped in and moved to inspect the inside. The second man tried to surprise him from behind but Chris quickly took him out with an elbow to the face.

' _Amateurs_ ', he thought as he started to step further in.

However, what he found was hardly the work of amateurs. There was a small herb farm set up in the warehouse that held all sorts of plants, chief among them, wolfsbane. He could also make out cache's of weapons further inside. As he went deeper, his eyes fell on a particular plant with yellow petals. He glared at the rare plant a bit before he snatched it up. With such valuable articles inside, he couldn't believe that there would only be two men…unless everyone else was out. He could only guess where they all were and what they were doing.

* * *

Lydia had stayed in the station all night and had woken up when the sun had shined right into her face when it broke through the windows. She woke to find the Sheriff was there, watching her.

"Good morning," he told her. He then went to sit by her side. "I thought I told you to go home."

"And I thought I told you that I wasn't going anywhere," she said back. "They get anywhere with her?"

"Not a damn thing," he sighed. "We should've gone with the medium."

Parrish came over to them and sighed. "Well, they went through everything that we took from Brunski's office and everything pretty much points all the way back to nothing." He then narrowed his eyes over at Lydia. "Did you not go home yet?"

She shook her head. "Not until Meredith starts talking."

"Lydia, I promise she'll talk and when she does I'll let you know," the Sheriff told her. "Trust me on this."

"Then let me try."

He shook his head. "No, we already discussed this."

"I've gotten through to her before, just let me try." She saw that the man was still going to fight her on this. "Look, we can keep arguing about this but if there is a chance that I can get something we could use, we have to take it. The longer this goes on than the bigger chance that a lot more people are going to die and get their names crossed off."

Parrish sighed. "I have to say Sheriff, she has a point. Meredith isn't talking to anyone else right now, but she might talk to her. She seems to trust Lydia more than anyone. I mean, what have we really got to lose at this point?"

Noah jaw tightened a bit. He hated to admit it but the both of them were talking sense. And considering that two of the names on the hitlist were theirs, they wanted this handled just as fast as he did, maybe more. He found himself nodding. "Okay."

As Lydia stepped in, Noah and Parrish were about to follow her inside when someone called his name.

"Sheriff!"

They turned and saw that it was Agent Rafael McCall.

"Why's he here?" Parrish asked him.

"Go on," Noah told him. "I'll be along in a minute." Parrish looked at him for a moment before he nodded and headed inside and closed the door behind him. Noah carefully moved to the man and made his face as impassive as possible. "You came."

"Of course I did. You sent me a message that our sons were almost killed and you needed me to catch the one responsible, I rushed right over. Is he okay?"

"Yeah, Scott's fine, thankfully. And, I already have who's responsible, but, we shouldn't talk out here. Follow me."

Noah took Rafael through the back and led them off to the storage room. There was no one around, not even any windows.

"Okay, so what's-" But he didn't get farther than that as a hard fist connected with his jaw. Rafael staggered but stayed on his feet. "What the hell Stilinski!"

"That was for my son." Noah then moved to swing again at his face. His second blow hit the man at his opposite cheek and made Rafael fall to one knee. "That was for Scott." Rafael looked up at him just in time to have his nose meet his third fist. "And that was for me."

As Rafael groaned out in pain, Noah opened the door to check to see that no one had heard any of that but there was no sign of anyone coming. He then closed the door and shook his hand to loosen itself from the pain.

The agent picked himself up and ran his hand across his face to see that his nose was leaking blood and the corner of his lip was cut. "Damnit Stilinski, what the hell is wrong with you?!" The Sheriff went and reached into his pocket and took out a folded piece of paper. He then threw it at him. Rafael caught it and unfolded it to find that it was the check that he made out to Haigh before he had left. Now he understood. "I can explain."

"There's no need. You had Haigh spying on us for you. He was your eyes and ears in my station. That's how you found that footage of Stiles. Haigh took it from the Bomber's computer and gave it to you."

"I was just trying to find answers. If I hadn't, then I probably would have still been kept in the dark about what was happening to my own son. It was thanks to Haigh that I finally learned what you all were keeping from me."

"And it was thanks to you that Haigh nearly went and burned your son alive and tried to come after mine," he spat back.

"What?"

"The Deadpool genius. It wasn't just you who learned what was going on, but Haigh did too. Only he wasn't interested in protecting our kids. No, he wanted to kill them and cash in on them. And, he went and got some people from his apartment building to join in and they tried to set Scott and his friends on fire last night."

"My god," he gasped. "Is he alright?"

"He's fine. It was Haigh that came out the worst of it. That wasn't his first time either. He wanted to kill Stiles and tried to kill Parrish too."

"Wait Parrish?"

"That's not important. You put our sons in danger. And you wonder why we couldn't trust you?"

"I…" Rafael couldn't think of what to say. He never thought that something like this would happen. He just wanted to have his family back. Now, there was a real chance he might lose them now and forever.

"Look, we can deal with this later. Right now, we're trying to find out how to shut down the Deadpool now that we've caught the Benefactor."

"The Benefactor? Wait, you caught him."

"No, my son, deputy and Lydia did."

* * *

Stiles was resting in his room, still fully clothed, when Liam came over and shook him by the arm.

"Stiles, Stiles wake up," he whispered to him.

"What?" he said as he opened them.

Stiles had gotten the tape recorder that Scott used to play the Benefactor's tape from his house and brought it over to his home. He told Liam that they would start cracking on it in the morning, after they got some rest. They thought it best to take turns keeping watch and Stiles offered to watch first so that Liam could rest. It felt like he had hardly slept from when he woke Liam to switch.

"Someone's coming. And, I smell gunpowder."

Stiles shot up out of bed and moved to leave the room as Liam followed behind him. They moved down the stairs and Stiles' let his nose find that there was indeed gunpowder and there were people outside, approaching his front door. Then, they knocked. Stiles and Liam shared a small look. Assassins wouldn't knock.

"Stiles? I know you're in there."

Stiles deflated. "It's Malia." He moved to open unlock the door and opened it to find Malia and her dad, Henry Tate. And they could see the shotgun strapped around his shoulder. "Hey, what are you doing here?"

"We're here to help," Henry told him.

Stiles nodded. He then moved to let the two of them in before he closed the door behind him. "Uh Liam, you remember Malia's dad, right?"

Liam nodded. He wouldn't forget one of the people that helped to save him from the well. "Yeah, nice to see you again Mr. Tate."

"Yeah," Stiles mumbled. "Okay, I need to go and get changed and I'll be back down in a second so we could get to work."

Stiles quickly ran off to his room and started to strip off his clothes and put on some fresh ones. He was bare from the waist up and moved to put on a new T-shirt when he turned and saw that Malia was standing at the doorway, silently watching him. He froze for a moment before he went and pulled the new shirt on. But he then resumed staring at her.

"I heard you almost got killed," she said after a few more moments of silence.

"I heard you almost got killed,' he said back to her.

"You okay?"

"Brunski jumped and poisoned me. Turns out he's a serial killer."

Malia nodded. "Makes sense."

"Yeah. I heard about what happened at the school."

"Couple of guys and that lunatic deputy of your dad's covered us in gasoline and tried to set us all on fire."

"You okay?"

"Basically," she told him.

They then went back to just silently staring at each other.

Stiles then cleared his throat. "Uh, so you came with your dad?"

She nodded. "Yeah…we actually had a long talk last night. About my parents. My _other_ parents."

"Oh. What did he say?" Malia didn't answer. She just averted her gaze. "Actually, it's okay. You don't have to tell me." Stiles moved to grab his flannel button shirt

"Her name is Corrine," she said, making him turn back to face her. "But she goes by some kind of a nickname. Peter, my father, says they call her The Desert Wolf. It means coyote."

Stiles knew what that meant. It meant that Malia inherited her werecoyote status from her mother.

Malia kept going. "My mom, adopted mom, she also knew Talia Hale. They went to high school together. She came to them with me and asked if they would adopt me. My dad, other dad, thinks that my mom might've known the truth about me but was planning to tell me when I was old enough. I guess we'll never know for sure now," she said in a cracked voice.

"I'm sorry," Stiles mumbled to her. "Are you mad at her?"

"Honestly, I don't know. Should I be?"

"You could never be right or wrong about being mad at someone. You are or you're not. You know, even if they were just trying to only think of you and what was best for you. You know, maybe she was just trying to make sure that you didn't get hurt."

"I don't need anyone to try and keep me from getting hurt," she said back to him.

"Well, yeah. you know that. But, you know, maybe she didn't. Maybe you could understand why she would do it though. I mean, it shows that she cared about you. Whether it was the right thing to do or not. I mean, even smart people can make mistakes. But you should try and let them apologize, by answering their voicemails or texts," he said pointedly.

Malia narrowed her eyes at him. "Is she going to keep begging?"

"She might," he sighed out.

Malia sighed. "Look, I'm don't have much practice in things like forgiveness. Or really, anything with people. Okay? Some things, you know, I'm getting pretty quick. Others…not so much."

"Like math?" Stiles guessed.

"I hate math," she sighed.

He stepped closer to her. "Do you hate me?"

She took a step closer to him. "I like you Stiles. I like you a lot."

Stiles shrugged. "I can work with that."

The two of them then moved for each other and quickly locked themselves in to a passionate but soft kiss. Malia's hand went to grasp at Stiles' cheek while Stiles went and grabbed at the back of her neck to pull her in closer to him. Their hands started to frantically move and grab at each other, as if they would lose the other if they didn't keep hold. They missed this. To feel one another. To take in the others scent. To just be close. They kissed for another moment before they softly broke apart. Their faces were about an inch apart as they stared hard into the other's eyes. Stiles felt himself drowning in Malia's brown eyes while Malia wanted to sink in Stiles' honey ones. They were getting ready to kiss again when there someone cleared their throat. They both turned over and spotted Mr. Tate standing there and Liam was behind him.

"I was coming to tell you that I started to boil some eggs and wanted to see if you two wanted some," he said as he crossed his arms.

Stiles nodded. "Uh, yeah. Eggs sound good. Malia?"

"Very good," she said to her dad softly.

Henry nodded but kept his stern look. Stiles then realized that he and Malia were still holding on to each other tightly and he moved to break them apart. He then smiled at Mr. Tate, as he hoped that he wouldn't decide to go and grab his gun and use it on him. Mr. Tate took a second to keep his stern look on Stiles before he moved and headed off, leaving Liam standing there.

"Uh…I'll just go with him," he said as he pointed after Mr. Tate.

"Yeah," Stiles said stiffly.

The two of them were left alone again and they found themselves smiling humorously at each other. Stiles then went over and offered his hand to her. Malia reached over and softly took it and they walked off hand in hand.

* * *

Noah Stilinski had gone back to his office and saw that Lydia hadn't started without him. Parrish asked what had happened but told him that it was nothing to worry about. He leaned over at his desk with him but took out his phone and put it out on the table at his side so that no one would see that there was an active call.

Out in his car, Rafael McCall was sitting inside and calmly listening to what was happening. As humiliating as it was for him to sneak around, he saw that he couldn't just be there himself because no one outside Stilinski and his son knew that he already knew about all this supernatural stuff, not even Melissa and Scott. Plus, Stilinski said that none of them could really trust him and if they knew that he knew, they would also have to know about how he had been bribing someone that tried to kill a few of them to watch them.

Lydia was pacing in front of Meredith, trying to find the best way to try and reason with her.

"I think I'm getting an idea about how all this happened," she started. Lydia decided to go with trying to break everything down to see if Meredith might feel the need to correct her and fill in gaps. "You used Brunski, right? You knew he'd kill people, and that he'd do it again." She moved to sit next to her. "He used my grandmother's code for the Deadpool. He put it online. He took the money from the Hale Vault, then turned the bearer bonds into cash. He made the payments." Meredith actually nodded. It looked like Lydia was getting somewhere. "Was it Brunski's idea to fake your death? Did he get nervous because you helped us unlock a cypher key?"

"I wanted to help," Meredith spoke out.

That made the two officers share a look. That was the most and loudest that Meredith had spoken all day. It seemed that Lydia was reaching through after all.

Lydia sighed. "All you ever wanted to do was help." Meredith nodded. "Is that why you're here? I know that you wouldn't be here if you didn't want to talk."

"I do…but only to one person."

"Who?" Lydia asked.

"Peter." That made the three of them widen their eyes in shock. "Peter Hale."

* * *

Chris took the plant he acquired and locked it away in his safe. As he closed it, he found fresh footprints at the side. He carefully grabbed his gun and moved to silently follow them. He then saw a silhouette behind a curtain. He pointed his gun at it and moved closer when a blade shot through it and struck him. It only nicked him at the shoulder but the pain traveled down and triggered damaged nerves on his scarred lower arm and made him drop his weapon. He used his other hand to grab his handgun hidden at his back and pulled it just in time to come face to face with a shifted Brett.

"Wait!" Scott said as he came running out. "Wait, Brett! This is his place. It's his!"

Brett was still growling but he pulled back and moved to stand over with his sister and pack.

Chris took in the number of people, undoubtedly werewolves, that were crowding in his place. "Scott, if you're bringing guests, you could've called."

"I didn't have anywhere else to take them," he tried to explain.

From the pack, Satomi stepped forward. "I know this man. He might not remember but we've met before." From her tone, it was clear that the meeting wasn't a good one.

"You can trust him," said Scott sincerely before he looked back at him. "I trust him."

"But your best friend does not," Satomi pointed out. That made everyone else in the room look at Argent tensely. "How do we know it's because he's not like the others?"

"What others?" Argent asked.

"Last night, there was a whole team after them." Kira then brought out an arrow. "And they used crossbows."

Argent took the arrowhead and inspected it. He found that there was a small crest carved into it. A hunter's crest.

"They're hunters, aren't they?" Scott asked.

Chris narrowed his eyes. "Not if they're killing for profit. Not anymore." If there were hunters here, then it would stand to reason that they knew all about Scott and especially Stiles. The story of the beta going through his family's men had made great waves.

"Can they find us?" Brett asked him.

"They might already know you're here," he told them. Suddenly, the easiness he found in infiltrating that hideout made a lot more sense. "They're probably waiting for dark." It would be too risky to launch an attack in broad daylight in this part of town. Too much of a chance that people would stumble upon them and interfere.

"So we're not safe here," said Kira. Going there turned out to not be a good idea after all.

"We're not safe anywhere," Satomi told her. "We've been trying to get out for days. Everywhere we turn, we find someone new trying to kill us."

Scott's head dropped a bit. He didn't know what to do now. They couldn't run and they couldn't hide. He also realized that maybe Stiles was right. With the exception of Satomi, each of these people weren't worth even half as much as Liam and they were all scared and in complete danger and they were all together. He had left Liam alone and vulnerable. Luckily, he knew that Stiles would protect Liam and the others with everything he had.

Argent stepped over to him. "They're coming for them Scott. And they're coming for you too. You're still number one on the Deadpool. And your friend Stiles is number two. Not to mention that Lydia and your beta Liam are tied at third. You're all in real danger."

"I know," he coughed out. "But I know that Lydia can get the answer from Meredith. She just needs more time."

"That's what she'll get. The man nodded. "And what about Stiles? I won't believe that he's just hold up somewhere. What's he doing about this?"

* * *

Stiles, Malia, Liam and Mr. Tate were spread around the Stilinski family living room as they listened to the tape of Brunski of Lorraine Martin. There was a lot more on here besides the scene where he killed her. He felt there might be something that could point them to the Deadpool since she was the one who developed the code for it in the first place. They listened and Stiles quickly turned the volume up when Brunski told Lorraine that he had to take her back to Eichen. Lorraine said that she wasn't going to be taken anywhere.

Stiles stopped it. "This didn't happen at Eichen House."

"It sounds like Lorraine had escaped and gone somewhere," said Mr. Tate.

"Then where'd she go?" asked Malia.

"That's what we have to find out," Stiles said before he rewinded that part of the tape.

"But they didn't say where they were," Liam pointed out.

"Maybe they did," said Stiles before he pushed play.

They all listened to Lorraine refusing to go with Brunski again and Malia's eyes narrowed.

"That's it," she said. "That's where it is."

"Where?" asked Liam.

She didn't answer him but looked over at Stiles. "Play it again and turn it up." Stiles did just that and the four of them quietly listened to Lorraine talking again. But, this time, they heard something along with her voice.

"What is that?" Mr Tate asked. "That scratching sound?"

"It's the record player," Malia told her dad.

Stiles stopped it. "What record player?"

Malia stood up. "The one in the lake house. In the study."

Stiles narrowed his eyes. "She escaped from Eichen House to listen to a record player?"

"Well, she was like Lydia, right? She was a banshee."

"Yeah, but only once. She predicted Maddie's death and then spent decades trying to predict something else."

"Maybe she did. But this time, it wasn't just one death, it was a lot of them."

Stiles eyes widened as his mind ran a mile a minute. "Like the Deadpool."

She nodded. "What if, all those years ago, Lorraine predicted it. And she knew that there was something in the study that could stop it."

Stiles' eyes widened. "Malia," he said getting up himself. "You're a genius."

"That's my girl," Henry said proudly. "What did you expect?"

Malia looked at him as he smiled at her and she smiled back. Stiles looked between the two with a small and calm smile on his face as he saw the love between the two. A father and daughter's love.

Liam just sat there, feeling awkward at the whole thing, and still a little lost. "Uh, so what now?" he asked.

Stiles moved and pulled out his keys from his pocket. "We go to the lake house."

* * *

There was a group of people waiting in an alley that was housing over half a dozen black SUV's. Some of them were talking amongst themselves over a map, while others were off smoking or doing other things to try and pass the time. Suddenly, one of the vans had their door open and a guy stepped out and went over to where the group with the map were.

"What is it?" asked one of them, the leader, as the guy approached.

"It's Target 2. He's moving."

"Where? Here, or the police station?"

The man shook his head. "Neither. The scout says that he's heading off towards the outskirts. Near the lake."

The leader looked over at the others. "Alright, we'll have to split off. I'll go after two with two units. The rest of you will stay on Target 1 and the others. Got it?"

"Yes sir," they mumbled to him.

* * *

Argent was setting up motion sensors at all the entrances and weak points where he felt that anyone might try to force their way in. They had to secure this place as best as they could so they could hold off however many people were coming after them. Scott had gotten calls from Stiles and Lydia as they updated him on their progress. Right now, they were all safe and he told them to stay that way. They told him the same thing. But Scott made another call.

Scott saw Braeden preparing her weapons but Derek was watching everyone else. "They'll be okay," he told him.

Derek tore his eyes away. "They've got claws and fangs but they're not fighters."

"That's why I called you."

"Well, try to remember that I don't have claws and fangs anymore either."

Braeden smirked. "That's why he called me."

Kira shook her head. "Am I the only one still hoping that all this is just a false alarm? I mean, it's possible that we could wait here all night and nothing happens. Right?"

Derek and Scott shared a skeptical look. Kira's prediction wasn't how things usually ran for them.

Braeden didn't give it any thought. "Scott, you hear from Stiles or Lydia yet?"

"Lydia is still talking to Meredith. Stiles is taking Malia, her father and Liam to the lake house. They're trying to stop it."

"What if there is no stopping it?" asked Brett. "What if it doesn't end until we're all dead?"

They stopped to consider that this might be a very real scenario. For all they knew, the Deadpool was rigged to keep going no matter what.

Derek spoke out. "Then let's send a message. Let's make tonight perfectly clear, to anyone with a copy of that list. It doesn't matter if they're professional assassins, hunters, or an amateur that just picked up a gun. Anyone who thinks that they can hunt and kill us for money is going to be put on another list, our list! They get to be a name in our Deadpool!"

At that, Braeden cocked her shotgun to really stick a pin on his words. Everyone else stiffened but were filled with resolve. The people coming for them were going to show them no mercy. If that was the case, then they would answer in kind. All of them were ready to make that clear, well, almost all of them. One of them was worried and hoped with everything he had that the Deadpool could be stopped and before it had to come down to that.


	20. Monstrous part 2

Chapter 20: Monstrous part 2

Lydia had called Peter and asked him to come down to the station because they needed his help. Naturally, he was difficult but Lydia mentioned that it was to speak with the Benefactor who stole his bearer bonds and suddenly he couldn't leave for the station fast enough.

The Sheriff began to pull away from the others. "Uh, I have to go and make a quick call. I'll be right back." Noah then made his way for the exit that came out into the parking lot. He made his way over to where Rafael was sitting in the car. He opened the door and got out when he caught sight of him. "I take it you heard everything."

Rafael stood and leaned up against the car. "Heard but honestly, I couldn't follow half of it."

"Well, hopefully Peter Hale could get Meredith to tell us how to stop it, if Stiles and the others don't."

"Right, and who exactly is he again?"

"It's a long story. But, right now, I have to get back and see this through. Which is why I have to ask a favor."

Rafael narrowed his eyes. "What?"

Noah made it back inside the station and waited with Lydia and Parrish for another half hour before Peter Hale finally arrived. They took him over to the interrogation room where they put Meredith.

Peter was regarding her with calculating eyes. "Her?" he slurred out. "That's the girl that stole my money?" Honestly, this wasn't what he pictured when he thought of who The Benefactor might be.

"That girl is a banshee," Lydia said in a dull tone. "And more dangerous than you'd think."

Peter kept his eyes on Meredith as she just stared out blankly. "Oh, I think that girl's pilot light went out a long time ago. Sheriff," he said giving the man a look. "Not to question the unquestionably sterling reputation of your department but are you absolutely sure you got the one?"

Noah narrowed his eyes at him. "How about you just go in there and hear what she has to say?"

Parrish then opened the door and showed Peter in. As Peter went to sit across from her, Noah and Lydia stayed outside the room while Parrish stayed inside with the two of them. Meredith just stared at Peter while he stared back with a questionable gleam in his eye.

Finally, Peter cleared his throat. "Okay, Meredith, where's my money? Or, more correctly, what's left of it."

Meredith narrowed her eyes at him. Like something was wrong. She started to slowly reach over at him and touched his face. Peter stiffened as she ran her fingers at his cheek before he suddenly moved and snatched her hand.

Parrish jumped forward as he kept one hand at his holster to pull his gun out at a moment's notice. "Let her go," he told him. But Peter kept his grip. "Let her go," he repeated more heatedly.

Peter didn't let go but he did loosen his hold a bit before calmly lowering their hands to the table. "Why did you do that?"

"They're all gone," she gasped.

Outside, Lydia had been watching them and couldn't understand Meredith's reaction to him. It was like Peter wasn't what Meredith had been expecting. She thought that Meredith had simply heard about Peter as she made her plans to rob the Hale Vault. But what she said made it click. "Oh my god, they have met before," she realized.

Peter looked back at her confused. "What?"

"The burns," she muttered. "They're all gone."

Peter widened his eyes at that. But he shook it away. He wasn't going to get distracted. "Meredith, you put everyone, including my daughter and nephew on a deathlist. Don't you think you owe us the slightest explanation of why?!"

Meredith leaned in. "You said it had to be kept secret." It was like she was trying to remind him.

Peter was taken aback. "I said…I said that to you?"

She nodded. "Yes."

He rolled his eyes. "Meredith, allow me to remind you, we have never met, ever!"

Lydia narrowed her eyes at that. "What is he doing?" she mumbled to the Sheriff.

Noah agreed. To them, it felt like Peter was trying to deflect something away from him.

Meredith shook her head. "You don't remember?"

"No, but, maybe you do."

Instantly, Peter went and pushed Parrish out of his way while Lydia screamed. Noah quickly ran inside but was too late as Peter had grabbed Meredith and thrust his claws into the back of her neck. Parrish quickly got up and drew his gun just as Noah pointed his own gun at Peter who was as still as a statue.

"Stop!" Lydia cried out as she ran to be in front of both of them. "Don't touch them! If you break the bond it could kill both of them."

"Then what are we supposed to do?" Noah grunted as he kept his gun aimed firmly for Peter's head.

Lydia shook her head. "I…I don't know."

Both the Sheriff and Parrish started to lower their guns.

"What the hell's he doing to her?" Parrish spat out.

Noah narrowed his eyes. "Stiles told me about this. He said that Peter did this to him in order to give him his memories of the Hale Fire."

"And they could use it to see memories too," Lydia muttered.

She kept her eyes on the both of them. As they stayed so still, she let herself just look at them. Meredith suddenly gasped and her eyes widened but she didn't move, and neither did Peter. Lydia's ears started picking up a sound that was like a distant echo. It sounded like people talking from far away. But then Meredith's lips began moving and she was speaking in a hushed tone.

"She's saying something," Noah said as they got closer.

"Yeah but I can't make it out." Parrish then looked at Lydia. "Can you understand what she's saying?"

Lydia got closer as she focused. She then nodded. "I can. She…was in the hospital. The same hospital."

"Same as who?" asked Parrish.

"Peter. It was right after the fire. Meredith was in the hospital bed right next to Peter…and she could hear it."

"Hear what?" asked Noah.

"Everything." Lydia's eyes stared out unblinkingly. She was watching the two of them in front of her, but it was like she could also see them together in the hospital. "She was hearing every thought in his head. Like they somehow found the same wave length. It was like every thought in his head was flowing right into hers."

"For how long?" asked Parrish.

"Weeks, maybe even months. It was almost like he was standing right over her bed talking about the fire. About getting revenge."

Parrish straightened up a bit. "Revenge? How?"

Lydia shook her head as she kept a blank look. "He was angry. Angry at his sister Talia. He started blabbering non-stop how she didn't see what was coming for them, their family, their pack, but he did. He saw that the hunters would burn them to the ground but his sister didn't listen to him, no one listened to him. He thinks she made them all weak and helpless. Then…he started talking about starting over. Starting everything in this town over with all the supernaturals, and not just werewolves. Every supernatural, he would get rid of them and…re-make Beacon Hills. Then he started saying that he wouldn't do it himself, but…hire people," she gasped out the last part. That made both Noah and Parrish share a horrified look. "Oh my god." The next moment, Peter's grip faltered and he started to stumble back and Parrish ran to catch Meredith before she could fall unconsciously to the floor. Noah quickly pulled his gun back on Peter as he fell to the floor. "It was you." Lydia glared at him. "It was your idea and you don't even remember."

Peter looked from her right up to the fierce glare that Noah had as he tightly held the gun. This finally explained why Peter had been the only supernatural that seemed to be omitted from the Deadpool. It was because it was all by his own design. Meredith had only been following the plan that he had put into her head. By all accounts, Peter was the Benefactor all along. Everyone who had died, everyone who was in danger, it was all because of him.

"Are you kidding me," he muttered as he could see that the Sheriff would like nothing more than to shoot him right then and there.

"Hands where I can see them," he said mercilessly.

"How the hell was I supposed to remember any of that?" he said trying to explain himself.

But the Sheriff silently insisted for him to get on his feet and Peter quickly did before the man decided to shoot him.

"She got it from you," Lydia hissed.

"I was out of my mind. Do you know what its like for one of us to be in a coma? You try not going crazy."

But the room was unsympathetic.

"She was listening to you," said Parrish.

"She was listening to the ranting and raving of a lunatic." Peter then realized that wasn't going to help him with anyone. "A former lunatic," he quickly corrected. "I'm much healthier now." That only made the Sheriff raise his gun higher at him. Peter knew the man was taking this very personally. "I had nothing to do with this."

"If she was following your lead on this, how do we know there isn't more. After all, it wouldn't be the first time that you used a girl by getting into her head."

Peter spared a moment to look over at Lydia who was glaring at him. "Stealing my own money? Really?'

"You were going to use it anyway," Noah hissed. "If not now then later."

"Sheriff, stop!" Lydia muttered to him. "This is just like what happened before, remember?" She was trying to remind him of the last time that someone was manipulating them into turning on each other. "Look around, we still have three people on the Deadpool here. Me, Parrish and Meredith, even if she's not worth anything anymore."

"But not him," Parrish spat out.

But Noah didn't change his poise. "The only person I'm pointing a gun at is you."

Peter then smirked at him. "Then you better make sure you get the perfect shot because I don't go down easy."

Noah raised his gun higher until it was between his eyes. "I'm willing to bet. I know for a fact that a bullet between the eyes doesn't heal so well. Even for you."

"Stop it," Lydia muttered.

But no one listened to her.

"This department is getting more corrupt by the second. No wonder there are homicidal deputies with a Sheriff like you. I mean, what are you even going to charge me with Sheriff? How are you going to explain this to a judge? Telepathic girl overhears thoughts of comatose werewolf and decides to enact his plans for retribution? They're going to be pointing a gun to your head, asking you to go quietly."

Noah pressed the gun closer until the barrel was pressing hard into the skin of his head. "Funny, because last I checked, you can't legally kill someone that already died once," he spat.

Peter now smiled. "Ooh, now I finally know where Stiles got that monstrous streak from. I know I didn't give it to him, sadly."

That made Noah pull the safety pin. But Lydia moved to put a calmly hand on his shoulder.

"Let him go," she said gently. "You have to let him go."

"I'd take the word of a banshee Sheriff," Peter mocked.

But Lydia glared at him. "He should, for your sake," she said at him. She then looked over at the Sheriff. "He's not worth it."

Noah grit his teeth but dropped the gun. Peter then moved but Noah stopped him. "That's twice Peter. And I'm warning you, if not me, then my son, are not going to let there be a third."

Peter glared at him before looking at the others. Meredith was looking at him wide eyed while both Lydia and Parrish were looking at him coldly. He then moved to leave.

Meredith quickly leapt up to go after him but Parrish grabbed her and held her back. "No, it's not finished!" she cried. "It's not finished!"

* * *

Stiles, Malia, Liam and Mr. Tate were inside the study at the lake house. Stiles and Malia were sitting in front of the record player as it was running while Henry was looking through the shelves and tables there.

"What are we supposed to be looking for exactly?" Henry asked them. "Because I don't see anything here that could help us find what we need."

Stiles let out a heated sigh. "He's right." He then got up and shook his head. "We're wasting our time. This room wasn't even made for us. We need someone like Lydia or Meredith. All we're doing is sitting in this room and listening to a record player that doesn't even play anything. Right now, it might be better for us to be with Scott, Satomi and the others." He then turned the player off. "Let's go." Stiles walked a few paces but froze. His eyes narrowed as he heard the scratching again. "Malia, why'd you turn it back on?"

"I didn't."

Stiles turned and saw that it was still off. "What?" He started to step closer. "You hear that?" he asked her. She nodded.

Henry looked at the two of them. "What is it kids?"

"Uh, we can still hear it," Malia told her dad. "We can still hear it spinning."

Henry came over to see that the player was completely still. "How? It's not on."

"Then we're hearing something else," Stiles mumbled.

"Yeah, something spinning." Malia then got up and looked over at the wall. "It's coming from here."

Stiles looked over and noticed that there was a wire from the player and it was leading into the wall, but there was no outlet. It was like it was running into it. He gave it a yank and made a small tear in the wall and the sound got louder. There was something back there. He shared a look with Malia and they nodded together. They stood side by side as they both went and thrust their hands into the wall to find that it was hollow. They pulled on the plaster and thin sheet rock and revealed machines on the opposite side.

"God," Henry muttered as he gazed at them.

"What is this?" Malia asked.

Stiles narrowed his eyes at it. "The Deadpool." Stiles quickly moved to catch Malia as she was going to punch it. "Whoa," he said pulling her back. "We can't just smash it to pieces. If this thing is being used to disseminate the list then it's probably going to keep going until everyone is dead."

"Then what do we do?" she asked him.

Stiles shook his head. "We need some kind of prompt, or command or something."

Malia started to approach but she shook her head when Stiles thought she was going to try smashing it again. She pointed to where there was some kind of small keyhole at the top. "What about a key?"

* * *

Everyone at the warehouse was high on alert. Night was falling and they would soon be in the danger timeline. Brett was holding onto his sister's hand as she tried hard to not go into a breakdown. A few of the others were curled up in corners, trying not to flinch at every little sound while others were pacing and their eyes narrowed in alert. Scott was watching them all. He hoped that Stiles and the others could find and stop the Deadpool quickly. If this dragged on, things would only get worse.

Argent went over to Scott after he had finished his sweep. "Okay, I've placed sensors and alarms at all the entrances. The moment anyone comes in, we'll know where and when."

"Good. Thank you," he said gratefully.

Argent nodded before he looked over at the group of werewolves around him. Some of them were narrowing their eyes at him or seemed to be trying not to look at him.

Scott followed his field of vision and saw how everyone was regarding him. "I'm sorry. I've tried to tell them that you're here to help-"

But he shook his head. "It's alright Scott." He wasn't surprised. It was only natural instinct. Werewolves had to be alert and on guard with a hunter close by. The only werewolf he had ever known that wasn't that way was Scott. He waved his hand to him. "Don't worry about it." But as he waved his hand off, he flinched a bit. He then went off to where he kept his things.

Scott was then left on his own and he decided to send a quick call to his mother. He wanted to talk to her, just in case. "I'll be okay mom. I'm not alone here. I promise I'll be careful. Don't worry, you'll see me at home later." He then hung up and let out a deep breath.

Kira came over to him and moved her hand to his shoulder. "It'll be okay. Stiles and Lydia are going to find the Deadpool and stop it. They won't let us down, you know that, right?"

He went and laid his hand over hers. "Yeah," he mumbled.

But then Kira narrowed her eyes. "Uh, speaking of Stiles, what's going on with you two?"

Scott blinked at her. "What do you mean?"

"Back at the clinic, what were you two arguing about? Sounded like it had something to do with Liam."

He let out a heated sigh. "It's nothing."

"Scott, that wasn't nothing. It looked like you two were almost about to start going at each other back there." He turned to look away from her. She could see the hurt in Scott's face. "What's going on? Tell me," she asked him gently as she moved her hand from his shoulder to rub at his back.

Scott went and rubbed at his bottom lip. "I found out that Stiles has been training Liam. For a while now."

Kira shook her head. "Oh?" She didn't see the problem. "Isn't that good? I mean, from what you've all told me, he's a good teacher."

"He is." Scott wasn't arguing that. It was thanks to Stiles that Liam had found his anchor, just like he had helped Scott find his last year. He was grateful that Liam was able to get some kind of handle on this. "It looks like he's learning a lot."

She shrugged. "Okay, so then why were you mad at him?"

Scott narrowed his eyes a bit but they softened when he looked into Kira's concerned eyes. "I wanted Liam to be far from all this. To be safe and not have to think about psycho shapeshifters or armed assassins wanting to kill him. Or to have to be worried that he'll lash out at every person he meets because he doesn't keep his anger in check. To be normal."

"Normal? Scott…he's a werewolf." She had said that as if it wasn't clear to him already.

Scott tried very hard not to laugh at that but did manage to smile. "I know. I know. Liam actually asked me if I could help him learn. I guess I wanted him to stay as normal as possible for as long as possible so I just kept putting it off. And Stiles tells me that Liam went to him and asked if he could help him learn instead. I don't know, I guess that it feels like he was going behind my back or something."

"I'm sure Stiles wasn't trying to do that Scott. With everything going on, I sure that he just never got around to mentioning it."

"I guess," he said tirelessly. "Maybe you're right."

Kira nodded before she lowered her gaze a bit. "Is that all?"

"What do you mean?"

"Is that the only thing going on with the two of you? You not knowing him teaching Liam?"

Scott was silent for a second before he shrugged. "Yeah. It's just like you said, with all the stress from these assassins, and our parents' bills…it's starting to really get to us. It's not really getting better, for either of them."

"Oh, it will. I know it will," she said rubbing at his back.

"Right now, it's hard, to see them struggling like that. And we can't do anything. But maybe you're right and it'll get better."

She smiled but it fell when Scott turned away a bit. Kira wasn't entirely convinced that Scott had told her everything. She wasn't blind. She had noticed that this thing between Scott and Stiles seemed to be brewing for a good while now. Sure, it looked like everything was normal with the two of them on the outside but when you scratch the surface, you could feel more was going on. Like how Scott and Stiles were with each other when they were in Mexico. Or in the Hale Vault. They seemed quick to snipe at each other or close to coming to blows and what was causing it was more than simple stress. She had a feeling what it might really be about. Earlier, she had told Stiles that what happened to her mother wasn't his fault. He clearly blamed for what happened to her mother losing her tails on himself. She meant what she said. Neither she nor her mother or her father thought that was Stiles' fault. But her mother losing her tails wasn't the only thing that had happened when he was possessed. She hoped that neither of them were feeling the opposite was true for that one.

Scott closed his eyes as he breathed out heatedly from his nose before opening his eyes again. He just kept his gaze opposite from her. Scott didn't want to admit it but Stiles might have been right about him leaving Liam. Scott wanted to make Liam happy so he just took him home to keep him away from this but looking back, he could see that was stupid of him to do. Liam was worth more than Satomi and the others which painted a giant target on his back and he left him to fend for himself. He hadn't seen it but Stiles had caught it right away. That led him to think about how Liam had gone to Stiles to train him. That move he did to disarm Haigh, Scott knew that Liam couldn't have just picked it up on his own. When Stiles' father had made that comment about Stiles' lessons, he realized where Liam learned that technique and Liam had seemed happy both with it and himself. Scott then started to feel an expected sense of theft coming over him. Suddenly he saw the image of Liam running off with Stiles again. A Stiles with red eyes and his own red eyes started to flare a bit. But then he blinked and tried to shake it all out of his head.

Satomi was off to the side and had been listening in. She had tuned in on Scott and Kira's conversation. It was clear to her that there was more going on than the young Alpha had shared. It was more than a simple misconception of a situation or stress. She caught how his eyes flared in what was in response to an emotional internal moment. Her instincts could see that there was deep conflict stirring in him. Conflict that had fed into the exchange she had seen back at the animal clinic. She then looked over to where Chris Argent was setting himself up. The man was wrapping some gauze over his arm.

"I didn't think I had hurt you that badly," she said as she came to him. "Or that my blade had touched you there."

He shook his head. "No, it's an old injury," he explained away.

Chris was applying the gauze around his arm and making sure it was tight. Over where the scars from Stiles' claws were. During his time away, he had been noticing some growing stiffness in his arm and there was starting to be flashes of pain. He had it checked out and learned that there was some nerve damage from where Stiles had cut into and tore a good degree of muscle and it hadn't properly healed. The more stress he put on his arm then the worse it would get. The last few weeks, he'd been taxing himself and his latest move in attacking that hunting outpost didn't help matters. When Satomi's knife had grazed him, it didn't touch his arm but the sensation made by it had traveled down to his arm and made him cringe. It was getting more sensitive so he had to keep some pressure on it to stem the pain away but he knew it was only a temporary fix.

"I wonder who caused it," she said to him in a tone that implied that she knew. She also sounded scolding.

He narrowed his eyes a bit. "You know, I do remember meeting you but you weren't a Buddhist back then." He sounded scolding himself.

"And you weren't protecting werewolves," she said back. "You were hunting them."

"Three things can not long be hidden. The sun, the moon, the truth. What exactly does that mean?"

"The truth can not stay hidden."

He tried not to roll his eyes. "I know what the saying means. What does it mean for you?"

Her face softened a bit. "The truth for me, is that we, my kind, are violent creatures. Who, eventually, will not be able to control their violent impulses. The mantra helps us subdue our nature."

"But you're still violent creatures," he pointed out.

She then looked pointedly at him. "And, you're still a destroyer of packs."

But then a beeping sounded that cut their conversation short. It made everyone stiffen as they looked over to where it was sounding.

"They're coming," said Chris.

* * *

Immediately, Stiles went and called Lydia and was holding his phone to it so she could get a good look. "You see it, there's got to be a way to turn it off, right?"

"I don't know. I don't know anything about computers from the 1970's."

At Lydia's statement, Stiles turned and looked over at Henry.

He narrowed his eyes at him. "I'm not that old," he said indignantly. Stiles then turned to look back at the computer while Henry went over and leaned in close to Malia. "Your boyfriend is a real comedian," he told her dryly.

"Yeah, I think so too." Malia nodded, not knowing her father was being sarcastic.

Outside, Liam was pacing around near the front porch. Stiles had told him to keep a lookout for them. He was letting his enhanced hearing reach out as he listened in on what they were all doing and saying inside. He found himself growing a little bored so he decided to pass the time by letting his senses reach out into the night. He sniffed the air and could smell the wet grass from when it rained last night to the misty after smell coming from the lake nearby. He then let the gold from his eyes shine a bit as everything around in the distance started looking clearer and sharper, even in the dim moonlight. He could see a small owl perched in a tree a couple of yards off to his left, its own golden eyes were staring right at him. He let a small growl loose from his throat as his eyes burned brighter and the bird hooted and then flew off. Liam couldn't resist letting a small satisfied smirk loose. But his smirk fell when his ears started picking up the sound of cars, and they were heading their way. He then started to hear voices.

" _We're almost there. Is everyone clear? Don't let any of them get away_ ," an authoritarian voice ordered. " _Remember_ , s _hoot to kill all except for Target 2. Just bring him down. The kill for that one is mine._ "

" _Equal shares, right?_ " asked one of them pointedly.

" _Of course_ ," the first one grunted.

Just then, Liam heard some clicks of a few guns and gasped himself out of it. He quickly then ran inside the house and threw himself up the stairs. "Guys!" he hollered as he came into the study to see Stiles, Malia and Mr. Tate looking at a machine stuck in the wall.

"What's wrong Liam?"

Liam started talking fast and panicked. "People are coming. I can hear them. I think it's assassins."

Stiles stepped out of the room and headed over to the nearest window and focused. He started to hear them. Cars and they seemed less than a minute away. "He's right." At that, Henry cocked his shotgun and moved to head downstairs. Malia moved to follow after him. Stiles looked back at the phone to Lydia's worried face. "Lydia, we need something, now."

"Okay, but I need a minute to think."

"Well, I don't think we have that long." He looked out the window and his eyes made out headlights of two approaching cars. "Yeah, definitely not." He then looked over at Liam who was backed into the wall and his face was pale in terror. "Liam," he said going over to him. "Here." He handed him the phone. "Stay in the study and help Lydia find a way to stop the Deadpool."

"What am I supposed to do?" he cried.

"Just do what she says. Okay?" And with that, Stiles quickly took Liam by the shoulders and pushed him into the study. He then closed the door behind him as he ran off for the ground floor where he saw that Malia was helping her father push a couch in front of one window for cover.

The two vans pulled up to the front of the lake house where a total of nine men stepped out of them. They gathered at the back of the vans and quickly armed themselves with guns and crossbows. Their leader moved to stand in front of them as they stared at the house. He pointed to two of the men and made a hand gesture toward the house. They would be the first wave. They took their automatics and aimed them for the house as they quickly and carefully headed for the front door. One of them stood in front of it as the other looked through the nearest window. He nodded and the guy kicked the door in and moved in with the other guy behind him. The others watched and waited for a few seconds before they started hearing shouts, gunfire, and growls coming from inside. It lasted about ten seconds before everything went silent. The leader nodded as he pointed to three others for them to be the next wave and move in. However, before they could begin to move, there was then a crash and the hunters and assassins looked to see one of their men flying out of a window and crashing into the dirt, unconscious. The ones with guns were getting ready to open fire at that area, but a shot rang out that made one of them cry out as a bullet had pierced his leg.

"Scatter," their leader roared out.

Some of them moved out to go behind the vans, including the lead hunter, while a few moved to head into the house to meet the Tates. The one on the ground was trying to crawl to his gun, but a foot went and stepped on it to preventing him from picking it up. He looked up and saw that it was Stiles, his fangs out and his blue eyes glowing bright. He glared at the assassin before reaching for him with his claws and then throwing him into the nearest van where he cracked the front windshield on contact before he fell down into a pained slump.

"Damn it!" shouted the nearest hunter. He was getting ready to shoot a crossbow bolt at Stiles but another shot rang out and hit the bow, destroying it. "What the hell?" he said trying to find who did that.

He didn't get any time as Stiles had caught him and pounced. He punched him in the gut, and then jammed his claws into the man's shoulder before backhanding him, scratching his face as he fell to the floor in unconscious. Stiles then looked over at the trees when he caught some movement. He spotted the one that had fired those shots. His blue eyes widened in shock. It was Scott's father.

* * *

Before anyone knew it, cannisters of tear gas were thrown off into the air.

"Get back!" Braeden cried out to everyone.

The cannisters exploded and started to unleash gas and then the warehouse was brimming with unrestrained chaos. There were bullets and arrows flying everywhere as all the werewolves were either trying to avoid them or push through them.

Chris went behind a pillar for cover and opened fire against the assassins who went to take cover themselves. Two of them concentrated their fire on him and he ducked away to avoid the bullet barrage.

Derek jumped through a thin and broken wall to avoid getting shot as he then threw a table down and took cover behind it as he took the handgun and shot at them. Half his shots missed one assassin he was aiming for but one hit the side of his shoulder which made him duck back for cover before Derek's chambers were emptied. He then took his automatic and fired for Derek as he ducked back down behind the table. Braeden was firing much more accurate shots on the incoming assassins and was bringing them down one after the other. She saw one guy was sneaking up on Derek from behind and she let out a hard shot that brought him down instantly. Yet, when her back was turned, another assassin moved on her but Derek caught him and quickly fired wildly at him and managed to hit him in the leg, felling him. The two of them then came together, back to back. Derek's eyes widened as there seemed to be assassins in every direction.

"How many are there?" he spat out.

"Too many," Braeden hissed before she moved to shoot some more.

Scott was next to Kira as they were trying to fend off any assassins that were next to them. He then noticed a guy with an automatic shooting over in the direction of some of the others and he moved to stop him. He grabbed the automatic and pulled it out of his grip as he gave the man a punch with his other hand. He threw the gun off to the side to get it far away from them. The assassin quickly recovered from Scott's blow as he moved to throw a punch himself but Scott caught it. He pulled the guy's arm back and then moved his palm to the man's chest to pick him up and slam the man to the ground. He then grabbed the man by his helmet and slammed it down two times to stop him.

Scott then got up and blinked as he saw that Kira wasn't with him anymore. He tried to find her and quickly spotted Brett limping over to him. He was already bleeding. "Find anyone you can and tell them to hide," he told him. Brett nodded and ran to do just that. Scott then looked around but couldn't find any sign of her through all the shooting and fighting. "Kira! Kira!" he shouted.

But Scott then got shot in the arm and found that it was made by the assassin he just brought down. He was semi on his knees and had pulled out a handgun, firing at him. He took another shot at Scott and he darted to avoid it. The assassin was about to fire again when he stiffened as something hit him from behind. He then fell forward and Scott saw that there was a thin knife at his back. He then looked over to find Satomi nearby, poised as she had just thrown it. She spared Scott a small nod before she turned and moved to fight another assassin. Scott then moved to keep looking for Kira.

* * *

Liam stood back as he held the phone to get the angle of the machines so Lydia could get a good look. "Anything?" he gasped at her as he turned the phone over to make it look back at him.

"I don't know," she sputtered. "Liam, I just don't know."

"We're running out of time," he cried.

He jingled the phone as his nerves were starting to wind up and Lydia caught something at the side. "Wait. Liam, point to the floor."

"What?"

"The floor. Show me the carpet," she told him. "It's gone."

"What?" asked Liam.

"The stain. Wine spilled on the carpet and left a stain and it's gone."

"Yeah, well talk to Mason. He knows this good recipe for getting rid of stains."

"That's not the point," she told him.

"What is the point?"

"Red wine doesn't just disappear," she said sternly. She then stared off. "Unless it wasn't wine. The ashes weren't ashes, the record player wasn't a record player so maybe the wine isn't wine," she muttered to herself.

"What?" Liam said, still not following.

But Lydia was still thinking to herself. If her grandmother was trying to stop the Deadpool by warning her then she had to have left something to help them. She left that note in the fake ashes, and if the wine was fake, then she probably left something in there, knowing she would figure it out. "That's it!" she cried. "The wine. Liam, you have to find the wine. The key is in there."

"What wine?"

Lydia told her the type of wine, and where to find it. The problem was, it was kept in the wine cabinet, downstairs. Where the fighting was going on. As soon as he opened the study's door, the loud sounds of gunfire and struggles started invading his ears. Being in that soundproof room had shielded him from hearing how intense everything had been going below him. At the bottom of the stairs, he could make out the feet of an assassin that seemed to have been knocked out. There was some crashing sounds coming from the living room and he quickly moved around it to get to the kitchen. The room seemed empty, save for some damage and bullet holes here and there. He quickly opened the wine cabinet and started to go through the bottles until he found the one Lydia told him about. It looked like it had been opened already and he shook it to here something jingle inside. The key was in there.

But before Liam could begin celebrating, an assassin made his way into the kitchen and pointed his gun at him. Liam dashed off just as a sea of bullets started firing off where he had been standing. He was ducking behind the counter as the gunman started walking over. Liam blinked as he heard the steps getting closer and then cried out as he made a break for it. He could then hear the bullets from the gun firing after him as he ran as fast as he could. The assassin was closing in on him with his barrage but he stopped when a shot fired and hit the wall at the side of him. He turned and looked to see Henry Tate with his shotgun and the man was cocking it. The assassin quickly turned to fire on him but Tate let out another buckshot and it hit the assassin and sent him flying back. Liam didn't notice as he was at the front door. He was ready to run for it when he suddenly saw a man outside with a crossbow. He noticed Liam and turned to aim for him and Liam ran back to avoid the flying arrow. The assassin outside was then tackled by Stiles. Liam heard a growl that sounded like Malia as she was fighting against an assassin that was trying to swipe at her with a thick hunting knife. He saw that there was some blood on her face as she caught the man's arm and started squeezing it. Liam then noticed the stairs and then ran back up them and threw himself back into the study. He shut the door behind him and put his back to it. He then started to slowly slide down it, gasping deeply.

* * *

The chaos only grew as the minutes dragged on.

Chris quickly shot and brought down an assassin just before another one ran up from behind him to try and shoot Chris, but he didn't let down his barrage and he brought this one down too. He then turned to fire on another one he spotted some distance away.

Scott suddenly felt a wave of great fear hit him. But, he quickly realized that it wasn't his own fear. "Liam," he muttered. Liam was scared, really scared right now. Scott didn't know how he knew that, but he just did. Without noticing, his face had shifted as he tried to navigate his way through the thick dust and gunfire smoke. He then spotted an assassin letting a barrage of bullets on someone that was hiding and taking cover behind a stone pillar. That person's fear scratched Scott's nostrils as it flooded into them. His red eyes widened as he suddenly saw Liam there, about to have a clip emptied into him. Scott quickly growled and found himself leaping across the room to the shooter. He grabbed him from behind and then threw him as hard as he could into the nearest wall. When the guy landed, Scott quickly went and stomped hard on the guy's hand without sparing him a moment. Through the man's scream, he could feel the bones cracking beneath his foot and Scott found himself sated at the feel of it. He then turned the guy over and threw three hard punches to his face, breaking his nose and jaw. "Liam." Scott looked over, expecting to see Liam there, but it wasn't him.

It was one of Satomi's wolves and he looked at Scott with a relieved but still frightened look on his face. But the werewolf didn't stare too long as he ducked when another assassin started firing at him. Scott growled hard at that man but before he could do anything, shots ran out and he fell. Scott looked over and saw Braeden with her gun aimed at him before she moved to go after someone else. Scott was gritting his teeth as he started to hear someone talking.

"Brett? Brett, where are you?" It was Brett's sister Lori. She was alone and looking for her brother. But she didn't find him, she found an assassin. His laser trigger was pointed directly at the center of her forehead and his finger was one second away from pulling the trigger.

Scott's eyes burned a very bright red and he ran faster than he ever had before as he rammed into the guy before he could kill Lori. Scott threw the man down and struck him at his head as he grunted in pain. Scott then hopped over him and ripped the guy's helmet off. The guy's eyes were wide with fear, but Scott found himself not caring at all. His wolf screamed at Scott to rip into him for daring to try and kill a young wolf in front of him. As Scott clawed through the guy's body armor, drops of blood started to stain his face, but Scott wasn't concerned by it for once. He found himself unable to stop. All he could see was Liam's fear, his concerns for Kira, and his anger at Stiles. Scott didn't realize that his face seemed to be morphing into something more wolfish, something bordering on monstrous.

* * *

Liam was on his knees, panting hard as fierce tears were sliding down his eyes. His head was laying on the carpet as he felt the blood pump fiercely into his head to his ears. He slowly moved his free hand to his chest where his heart was beating like a jack hammer.

"Liam? Liam, I heard something. Did you just come back?!"

Liam looked up as he heard Lydia's voice call out from the phone. He then looked over to see that he was still holding tight the wine bottle that he had gone down there to get. He hadn't let it go and he remembered what was happening. He wiped at his eyes with his sleeve before going over to the phone. "I'm here," he said as he picked it back up.

"Did you get it?" Lydia asked. Liam held the bottle to show her. "Yeah, that's it."

He jingled it for her. "I hear something inside."

"Then get it," Lydia spat at him. "Break it and get the key."

Liam went and threw the bottle to the floor where it shattered apart. He then carefully started to sift through the broken glass where he found a small metal key on a string. Liam took the key and ran over to the computer where he then pushed it into the keyhole. He turned it and watched as the computer's board started to slow down until it stopped fully.

Downstairs in the kitchen, one of the hunters was struggling with Tate with his shotgun before the man went and pushed for the butt of it to hit him over the head. Tate fell to the ground, and his attacker reached to grab his handgun held at his back by his jeans and pulled the safety back. But before he could shoot him, there was an alert sounding off from his phone. He pulled it out and his jaw dropped at the message. He didn't get much time to dwell on it as claws were then jammed into his side. Malia had seen her dad in trouble and just pounced. After thrusting her claws in the guy's torso, the hunter bent over slightly as he hissed in pain and Malia quickly grabbed his head and smashed it into the banister, knocking the man out.

"Dad!" she cried as she ran to him. "Are you okay?!"

He went and pushed himself up a bit by his elbows. "I'm fine sweetheart," he grunted.

Malia then noticed the beeping phone that he dropped and reached over to pick it up. She then showed it to her father and they stared at the message: **All Contracts Terminated**.

Outside the house, Stiles quickly caught an arrow that was flying to him, shot from a hunter hiding from behind one of the vans. When he was spotted, a shot rang out and the guy fell as Agent McCall had gotten out a shot at him. He then took cover behind a tree when another hunter brought out a handgun and fired for him. Stiles darted over and swiped his claws for him and had managed to scratch at his wrist which made him lose grip on his gun. The man flinched but quickly pulled out a thick hunting knife from his belt with his other hand and went for Stiles' throat. Stiles bent back to avoid it but he still felt the hard wind touch under his chin. The assassin then tried to pushed forward to drive it into his chest but Stiles sidestepped and the blade only ended up grazing the front of his chest. He quickly sent a kick at the guy's left leg and made him fall on his other knee. Stiles then quickly jammed the arrow he caught into the guy's kneecap which made him scream out in pain before Stiles gave him a hard back hand across his jaw. He was breathing a little hard as he glared at the knocked out hunter before he gave a shout as he felt a heated pain. Stiles stumbled a bit and looked over to see that there was an arrow now lodged in the back of his left shoulder.

The lead hunter was slowly pacing towards him with his crossbow pointed in his direction. "Stiles Stilinski," the man spat at him as he stepped closer. Stiles reached to try and pull the arrow out but it was deeply plunged into him and seemed stuck. His deep pained grunts made the hunter smile. "Oh, I can't tell you how long many of us have waited for this. Chris had dibs on you," He pulled the lever to load another bolt in as Stiles turned around to face him. The man aimed for right between his eyes. "But I'd say he's long overdue." As his finger twitched on the trigger, he had been bumped and the arrow flew off and just missed the boy. It was one of his men. "What the hell?!" he spat at him.

"We have to go!" the man said in a frantic tone.

"What?!"

"Look," the other man said showing him his phone. The cancellation message in plain sight. "The whole thing's gone. There's no reason for us to be here now."

Stiles' eyes widened. He could see the message. The Deadpool was shut down.

But the armed hunter just spat at his partner. "To hell there's not!" he said pushing the phone away and him away.

"But the money's gone!" the assassin said as he tumbled back.

"Screw the money!" spat the hunter. "I lost two friends to this thing and I'm not going to leave until it's put down!"

The hunter moved to ready his crossbow to load in another bolt when his arms were grabbed from behind by Agent McCall. The hunter tried to pull away but Rafael had a firm grip and they started to tumble around. The other assassin quickly panicked and made a break for it. The hunter kept wriggling a bit before he dropped the crossbow and then threw his elbow back into McCall. That made him let go and move back a step but Rafael stayed firmly on his feet. He drew his gun but the hunter punched him in the face before throwing his elbow down at his hand to make him lose it. Rafael threw himself forward and the two of them tumbled to the ground. They started rolling before the hunter got the pin and started to choke Rafael with both his hands. Rafael tried to push at the hunter's face to get him off as his hand ran down the man's face before grabbing hold of a chain at his neck and moved to scratch the skin there with the pendant hanging from it. That made him flinch and Rafael quickly punched him with his other hand which made him fall over and caused his necklace to snap off.

The assassin who ran made it the closest van and quickly hopped into the driver's seat. The keys had been left in the ignition and he started up the van and quickly pulled it back a bit before getting ready to put the car in drive and speed out of there when the door's window shattered. He braced himself against the shower of broken glass and turned just in time for a fist to collide with his face.

Stiles had taken off after the runner when he saw that Scott's dad had the other guy and made sure that he didn't get away. Just because the Deadpool was over didn't mean that they could just cut and run. Not after everything they did and tried to do to them. After breaking through the window and breaking the guy's nose, he yanked him out through the window and threw him face first into the dirt. He then turned to see Agent McCall had gotten to his feet and was now pointing his retrieved gun at hunter, who was lying flat on the ground, glaring at him. He then tried to make a move but Rafael went and dropped a quick stomp right at his temple.

* * *

As Scott mangled the man, he managed to find the strength to hold his hands up, in a gesture of mercy. But Scott just roared hard at the man which made him start to whimper. But before Scott could make a swipe at the man's face, he heard a beeping coming from the guy's pocket. One that started to come out of the others. Every one of them had stopped in their tracks and were checking their phones. Scott reached down and took the man's phone and saw that a message was being displayed. He snarled as he held it for the mauled hunter to see. His eyes widened as Scott flashed his message: **All Contracts Terminated**.

The other hunters and mercenaries, still standing, all started to quickly pull away and bid a hasty retreat. Chris, Derek, Braeden, Satomi and her pack quietly watched as they retreated and came out of into the open, staring at each other in confusion. Scott then moved away from the assassin and just left him there as he moved to rejoin everyone else. His heart warmed when he saw that Kira was also there, none to worse for wear.

"Is it over?" she asked the room at large.

Scott sighed and nodded. He then looked around the room and noticed all the fallen bodies around it. His face dropped a bit at the number of them.

* * *

Meredith was now sitting in wait inside the Sheriff's office with Lydia. Stilinski was arranging for her to be taken back to Eichen House, now that the Deadpool was shut down.

"You okay?" Lydia asked her. She hoped Peter hadn't really hurt her back there. Meredith nodded. "Yeah, I guess you are. For someone that would put their own name on a hitlist."

Meredith blinked. "I had to."

"Why?" Lydia asked. That's what confused her most of all. Why did Meredith do this if it wasn't even really her idea.

"Because I heard you scream. From the tunnels at Oak Creek." She was talking about when Lydia had screamed as she felt Allison's death. "That's when I knew, that it was the right time."

"But, with Peter?"

"He's the Alpha," said Meredith. "He's always been the Alpha. He'll make it right. It never was with us." Meredith started to cry. "Too many people died, because of us. We're the monsters. Even Banshees. Even me."

"Meredith, if you felt that way then why did you take out your name after we went to see you?"

"I didn't. I moved it, to Stiles." Meredith had planned to deal with herself, instead of having someone else do it and moved her money to where she felt it would be most important to be. "He's the one that I had to make sure was gone. The one born to be a monster."

Lydia sighed. Images suddenly came to her of Stiles going after the hunters in Mexico. Him attacking the Kanima. Attacking the Argent hunters. Attacking Kali. Him glaring at the Nogitsune. She nodded. "You're right, he is, to the real monsters." Meredith's face fell in confusion. "Stiles is monstrous but only to those that do monstrous things." Lydia began to cry. "And not all monsters do monstrous things."

"Like who?"

She then saw images of Scott. Him being so light-hearted that he tried everything to avoid hurting anybody if he could help it. How he tried to save everyone with everything he had. "Like Scott."

Meredith then moved to stroke Lydia's cheek. "Like you," she mumbled. Her face then widened. Widened at how she had a direct hand in trying to kill these three, and their friends, and who knows how many others that weren't 'monstrous'. "Oh god…what have I done?" she cried out.

* * *

Outside the lake house, over half a dozen men were face down on the ground with their arms behind their backs. Their wrists were bound and tied by plastic twist ties. Mr. Tate had brought them. Said that he had learned his lesson with their encounter with the Bomber and was not going to let any assassins coming to kill his daughter or those she cared for just up and get away. As for the rest, they were either to injured to walk or knocked out. They were all being watched by Mr. Tate with his shotgun on them and Malia by his side.

Inside the lake house, Liam was sitting off in one of the rooms, rocking slightly in place as his hands were folded in front of him. He heard a creak and looked up to see Agent McCall.

"You okay?" the man asked him. Liam nodded though lowered his gaze back down. "Good. Well, the police will be arriving soon. You know where Stiles is?"

"He's upstairs," he muttered as he kept his gaze to his folded and shaking hands.

Stiles was in the study, staring at the computer in the wall. This thing was something that should be holed up in a museum and yet this relic had been responsible for sending assassins after all of them and had gotten a good many killed. Right here, the whole time, and it had started long before they had even started on any of this. It was boggling his mind. There was a soft knock on the open door and Stiles saw that it was Scott's dad.

"Are you okay?" he asked. "I mean, I saw you got hit back there."

"No, I'm alright," Stiles shrugged a bit before he went to rub behind his shoulder. "I'll be feeling stiff for a few hours but I should be fine by the morning. One of the perks of being a werewolf, we heal fast."

"I'll say," he said as he stared at the spot where the arrow had made a hole in Stiles' back. It had already been pulled out by Malia after they had rounded all the attackers up. When Malia had yanked it out, the pain had made Stiles roar out quite loudly and Rafael was fascinated with how the wound was already looking like it was quite old as if the injury happened days ago opposed to ten minutes ago. "So, does shutting this thing off mean that it's all over?" Rafael asked him.

Stiles nodded as he turned to look back at the shut down computer. "That's what it looks like."

Rafael still was tense though. "Do you know if Scott's safe?"

Stiles sighed. "Yeah, I got a text a minute ago. Don't worry, he's okay." The man sighed in relief before Stiles then observed the broken pieces of the wall on the floor and remembered the state of the rest of the house. "Though, I won't be when Lydia and her mother comes over and sees the lake house."

Rafael shrugged as he looked behind his shoulder. "Well, considering that armed criminals had barged in and created the damages, I think they should be covered insurance wise. And, if not, I think I might be able to pull some strings for them." He then looked over at the teenage boy who still had his back to him as he was silently staring off. He looked him up and down and could see the remnants of what they had just gone through all over him. Rips, tears and dried blood was scattered on his clothes, face and hands. But, he was still standing firm. This wasn't the same boy that Rafael remembered who would always run off with Scott and cause mischief. He'd changed, and apparently so had his son. He wondered if Scott was looking similarly torn at but standing firm, right now. But Rafael cleared his throat. "You and your friends should get going. The police and a few of my associates should be arriving soon and I don't want you all getting caught up in this any more than you have to."

"Okay," Stiles muttered airlessly.

Stiles moved to get moving but Rafael stopped him. "Stiles." That made the teen stop before he left the room and turn back to him. "Can I ask for a favor?"

Stiles narrowed his eyes. "What?" He wondered what the man could possibly want from him.

"You didn't tell Scott about me, did you?" Stiles shook his head. "Good. I don't want Scott to know that I know."

Stiles' eyes widened. "What? Why?"

Rafael shifted uncomfortably from the heel of one of his feet to the other. "Look, I'm not sure you could understand. I mean…maybe you could. Anyone that's been what you've been through probably understands more than I could imagine."

"Yeah, but I gotta say, I'm feeling kind of stumped here."

Rafael straightened himself. "First, I want to tell you that I'm sorry Stiles. For everything. When I first came back, it was to try and mend my relationship with Scott. Not to try to get your dad fired."

Stiles glared slightly at him. "Yeah, that was just a consolation prize."

The man flinched. "Harsh, but I deserve it. I deserve a lot worse actually," he muttered breathlessly as his recent actions came to mind. "Anyway, I've been trying to get Scott to try and let me in his life but he still doesn't trust me with much."

"Oh, Scott trusts more easily than you would think," said Stiles in a low tone.

"Well, then I guess I'm a special case. But, if I want me and Scott to work, then I want him to be the one to tell me. To tell me because he trusts me enough to tell me. I can't go through anyone or force it on him. I want him to do it because he honestly trusts me on his own. I already talked it over with your dad and he's not going to say anything either."

"Well, if he's on board with this then I guess I am too."

"Thank you. Now go, collect your friends and get out of here."

Stiles nodded before he started to leave the room. But he stopped. "Hey, Mr. McCall, not that I'm complaining but, how did you end up coming here anyway?"

"Your father. I was at the station with him when he got your last message about you coming here. He asked for me to come over and help keep an eye on you for him. He figured that someone could be watching you like Haigh did and if they were onto you trying to stop the Deadpool, then they might try everything to stop you. I managed to get here just in time to see that armed team begin moving in and made my own move."

"Oh, well thanks." Then he left the room. As he found himself in the hallway, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the pendant on a chain that Rafael had pulled from that hunter's neck. Stiles had picked it up and saw that it was the same as the one he took from the hunter at the school. The one with the Argent's crest on it.

As Stiles left, Rafael reached into his pocket and pulled out the folded check. He could see how close Stilinski and his son were. They'd always seemed to be close but when he first got back, he saw that their relationship seemed stronger than ever and that had only made him hate the two more. Because they had what he and Scott didn't. Same thing with Scott and Melissa. He knew that revealing that he knew the truth about Scott to him would no doubt change everything with the two of them. It could open a lot of doors between him and Scott and maybe even bring them closer than ever before, but it wouldn't be fair or right. Melissa had told him that Scott wanted him to try harder and he had been. He honestly had, but he'd been getting frustrated by the lack of progress so he tried to cheat and spy on him and his friends to learn what was going on. That only did more harm than good. His grip on the paper tightened. ' _No more shortcuts or trying to cut corners,_ 'he thought to himself. He would stick to the long way. Scott deserved that and he owed it to him. He then repocketed the check, to keep it as a reminder of his promise.

* * *

Scott and Kira were outside the warehouse, she was helping to clean off the blood that was on him. He didn't want to stay inside there and keep looking at the bodies, even if most were the ones that had tried to kill them. A few were simply wounded and unconscious, but a good many of them were dead.

"You okay?" he muttered to her.

She nodded. "The Deadpool's gone and there's no more reason for anyone to come after me, my friends and my mom, I'm great." That made them both share a small toothy laugh with each other. "All done," she said after she finished cleaning his face.

Scott let a relieved breath out. He then stared at Kira for a moment before he leant in and gave her a soft kiss. "I'm just glad it's finally over," he said before planting a kiss at the top of her head.

Kira let her head rest into his chest while he held her. "Maybe now, things can start to go back to normal like you wanted."

Scott sighed. "Yeah."

As they held each other, he stared off, his eyes were soft but filled with worry. He couldn't help but feel that, somehow, there was more coming.

Inside, Satomi's pack was helping each other with patching themselves up. Brett was getting his head dabbed with an alcohol soaked cloth by his sister where he had a cut above his left eye.

Satomi was pocketing her throwing daggers when Chris Argent slowly made his way to them.

"What did you mean back there?" he asked as he walked up. "About me still destroying packs."

Satomi didn't turn to look at him but still kept her eyes on her daggers. "I've heard many things about Scott and his pack. How they've managed to overcome so much, even back before Scott was an Alpha. However, it started out with two, Scott and Stiles, and they've overcome and endured the most. Together they are a force to be reckoned with and they care greatly about those they've take in their charge. Separately, Scott and Stiles had gone out of their way to give us some shred of hope, but when they came together they actually lifted everyone's spirits and rose morale. Mine and my whole pack's and stressed how much we all had to work together." Satomi's face then stiffened. "But, the moment that your name was mentioned, I was amazed how reversed they became."

Chris' jaw stiffened. "How so?"

She finally turned to look at him. "After your name was mentioned, suddenly, they couldn't pull away from each other fast enough. They started arguing over everything after that. It then escalated and, if it had kept going, they might've actually started fighting. I've seen plenty of friendships, families and relationships get destroyed and most of them started out just like this. With misplaced trust or misplaced mistrust."

"My situation with those boys is…complicated."

"From what I witnessed, it is not mere complication at work. It is clear that Scott McCall trusts you fully, but his friend Stiles Stilinski seems to have to suspect everything that is associated with you." Satomi could see that whatever personal issues were brewing within the two, they seemed to have been triggered and given strength by their separate stances with the hunter then subtly used at one another. "Whatever you've done to put yourself in that situation with them is affecting their relationship and, if left unchecked, it will go on to affect the state of their pack. Perhaps even destroy it."

Chris saw that Satomi was looking at him somewhat accusingly. "I assure you, that's not what I'm trying to do."

"It's not always a matter of intention. Remember what I told you about my mantra? No one can deny their true nature. Not people like us, or even people like you. How do you know that you aren't simply following your own nature, even now? After all, it's not the first or only time that a pack in Beacon Hills was taken down because one of its members placed trust in an Argent."

Chris looked away from Satomi as he silently started to think to himself. He hated to admit it but she stirred him with that. After all, it was his father Gerard that destroyed Deucalion's pack by playing on his trust and desire for peace which led on to the destruction of three other packs. Then there was Kate, who destroyed the Hales by playing on Derek's trust with false feelings of love. Now there was Scott who trusted him and Allison, and if she was right then it was starting to tear at the pack from the inside out. Unconsciously, his hand started to move to grasp the chain he was wearing through his shirt. ' _But it will be the last_ ,' he thought as he held it.

* * *

In the sewers, Peter was pacing as Kate watched him.

"You look nervous," she muttered.

He paced away from her. "I'm not nervous, I'm…rattled. I don't like being rattled."

"But its over. The Deadpool's done. And, if you needed to be reminded, everything else is going exactly your way."

Peter stiffened. With this new revelation, he was sure that his plans would only be made to suffer. "Not exactly my way."

"Well, maybe not every piece in your game moved _just_ as predicted but they still move perfectly into place." She then spotted how he was standing off and was silently staring at his plan. She thought he seemed…hesitant. "You want to bail on the plan," she realized.

Peter snorted. "Of course not. Not when I'm this close," he said stiffly. "Not when I'm this close to killing Scott McCall."

"Good, just don't forget what you owe me," she said with a bit of a warning tone to her voice.

"Oh, I haven't forgotten. Don't worry, you'll get your hands on Stiles and have his head all for yourself."

Kate smiled at that.

* * *

Stiles was lying in his bed, just staring up at his ceiling. Lydia had told him everything that had happened with Meredith. Her reasons for starting the Deadpool in the first place. Was she right? Did they all deserve it? Stiles remembered when he had thrown in about the population of their town dropping a while ago. People like Heather, Tara, and Mr. Harris; just to name a few. So many people in this town had suffered and died by being caught in the middle of all this. Innocent people that didn't deserve any of it but had gotten stuck in the crossfire against them and their enemies. He was feeling angsty and let his eyes wander until they came upon his evidence board that was filled with everything about what had just happened. He needed something to get his mind moving.

The sun was shining bright into his room as Stiles was finishing tearing down the last remnants of the board relating to everything about the Benefactor and the Deadpool. It was finished, but there was still one more mystery for him to work on. He took out his marker and began writing the central question for the new enigma: Who is the Desert Wolf? Malia's birth mother, he wanted to help find her. Help Malia find some answers and find closure with the mystery and questions about her past. To be honest, Stiles was quite curious himself. Who exactly was she? How did she get involved with Peter and how was his sister involved in all this? What had happened to make Talia take Malia away, give her to the Tates and erase Peter's memories? Not only that, but he wanted to help find the one that tried to kill Malia eight years ago and killed her mom and little sister. The Tates deserved to have some justice for what happened. But, so far, only the first question had any real answer. He took his marker and wrote the only hard fact and clue to all of this. The Desert Wolf's first name, Corrine.

As Stiles held the capped marker to his lip and got lost in thought, there was a knock on his door. He sighed and threw the marker to the side and started to head downstairs. His father wasn't home as he and Scott's dad were dealing with all the hunters he and the others flagged down at Lydia's lake house, and everyone else was taking today to just rest up after their long night, so he was on his own for the whole day. He opened the door a smidge and froze when he saw who was there.

Chris Argent.

The man was looking down at him calmly. "Hello Stiles. Can I come in?" he asked with a gruff sounding tone.

* * *

 **A/N:** The next chapter will be a special one. A sort of interluding chapter that combines the past and present together which might give us some insight of the future for the pack.


	21. Nexus

Chapter 21: Nexus

A/N: With this 'episode', the rating of the story has officially gone up. Originally, this was meant to be one chapter. But it got so big that I had to split it into two. I hope you enjoy it.

* * *

 _Talia Hale was inside the vault, pulling out a jar of the Reshi mushrooms that she still had in there from Satomi. She gazed at the one she pulled out to the one that was still there._

 _"One left," she mumbled. "I better talk to Satomi and see if she could grow some more." Talia really did like this tea. She found it quite soothing, even if her two youngest weren't big fans of it._

 _Talia moved to exit the vault and had the entrance closed behind her. The high school was empty right now as summer vacation was still in progress for another week. Her son Derek would be starting his senior year. She sighed as she turned away from looking at the deserted building as she thought of her only son. The last few days, he hadn't been speaking to her and he had been going off on his own a lot more than usual. Derek had been detached and secretive all summer and had been going out of his way to avoid her when he was in the house. He was also going out of his way to keep what he was doing out of the eyes and ears of everyone, even Laura, possibly because he knew that she might tell her. Talia had reached out to Derek's known friends but they all claimed that they'd been spending time with Derek no more than usual. Maybe it was nothing and he was just off trying to be alone, and away from her. Talia knew that she wasn't his favorite person in the world right now, and it wasn't simply because of him not being able to play basketball again. A week ago, he had asked her if he could go to the Senior Scribe event that would be held the night before school started up again. The problem was, that was the night of the full moon. Derek was still having trouble keeping himself grounded and she had already told him that it might not be a good idea for him to go. His cold shoulder had now become frigid._

 _With all this new stress, she hoped that some Reshi tea would help. Well, she would pray that Ray's wedding would help to lift some spirits. Laura was coming back to town to celebrate and Cora was ecstatic at being chosen to be the flower girl. She hoped the good cheer would help his mood. It wasn't easy being both a mother and the Alpha. She was only doing what she thought was the best for everyone's sake. She hoped that Derek would understand that one day, when he was older._

* * *

Cora was slouching back into a giant plush armchair as she was on a video call with her brother Derek. They hadn't really spoken for a while, given what had been going on. But, with the Deadpool finally over, the two siblings were now trying to help each other get to speed on what was going on. Cora was in her last trimester and was now bigger than anyone could ever remember her being. She was not very happy with that fact.

"Wow," Derek said as Cora moved her arm back to give him a wide view of herself. She was in a fraternity dress and his eyes fell on her giant belly. The place where his future niece or nephew currently was. "Cora, you look-"

"I look what?" she said narrowing her eyes at him, a bit of warning in her tone.

He just smiled lightly at her. "You look beautiful," he said honestly. Actually, Derek thought that Cora at the moment looked exactly like their mom. She was just how he could remember her when she was carrying Cora. "Mom and Laura would be saying the exact same thing you know," he added a little softly with his eyes lightening a bit.

Cora huffed. "Yeah, well I feel like a sack of pumpkins."

Derek let a small laugh loose. "You do know, you only have yourself to blame for that."

"Hey," she said indignantly. "It wasn't exactly intentional."

"Uh, I'm pretty sure that's how this kind of thing usually goes," he joked a bit.

"Wow, you've actually developed the ability to casually throw in jokes. Will wonders never cease."

Derek made a point to noticeably roll his eyes at her. "Ha Ha."

The two of them, even though they were bantering with each other, were smiling. The two of them couldn't remember the last time that either had done this even before the fire. Actually feeling the warm pull of being a brother or sister. Being each other's family.

Cora's face then fell a bit. "What about the other thing? The one that happened to you. You think that was intentional too?"

Derek sighed. He had finally told Cora about him losing his powers. She was shocked to say the least. "We might never know."

"How are you, by the way?"

Derek shook his head as he stared at her. "I'm not sure. Honestly, I don't know how to feel. I never thought I would ever go through something like this."

"Well…if you really want to make sense of it, there is someone that you could talk to that's been through this thing before."

He rolled his eyes. "Him? Oh please, I'm not that desperate Cora."

"Der," she cut in. "I'm actually being serious here."

He deflated. "No…I don't think he could help. It's not really the same thing, on more than one count. I mean, this is something that we were born into. With him, it was something that just happened to him after a year."

"Still, you have to go to someone," she pressed him.

But he just shook his head again. "No, talking won't change this. This is something that I just have to see to the end on my own." Derek then cleared his throat. "But there will be plenty of time for that later. I already have something else I have to take care of."

Cora straightened herself up. "Kate."

Derek let his lingering anger for the woman that used him and destroyed their family and lives set into his eyes. "She's still out there, somewhere. And she's not finished, with whatever she's trying to do."

"She never is," Cora spat out a little more to herself than her brother. "So having any better luck looking the she-jaguar whore?"

He narrowed his eyes at her. "You know, you're going to have to show more restraint. With a baby on the way, you don't want them to have the wrong thing being their first words." His tone was a hybrid of teasing and scolding.

Cora rolled her eyes. "Okay, sorry. How is the search going for that nasty, lying, scheming, no good cougar wannabe that torched our home and family? Better?"

"Much," he nodded amusingly before he sighed. "It's slow. Braeden hasn't found a lead in days. Her trails gone cold since her last appearance."

"Is it too much to hope for that an assassin already took care of her before the Deadpool was shut down?"

"With our brand of luck, probably not. She's probably gone to ground to try to hide from being targeted."

"Is it possible that she doesn't know the Deadpool is over yet?"

"Maybe. I'm going to check in with Braeden and see what's she been able to turn up. Then I'm going to help to find her as fast as possible. After all, I don't want to miss anything," he said giving her a pointed look.

She sighed and she moved her free hand to rub against her swollen belly. "Well, don't worry. There's still over a month left. You should have time."

* * *

 _A young woman named Janice was being fitted for her wedding dress with Talia nearby, watching with a smile. Janice was getting married to her beta Ray that coming weekend and she was still trying to weigh the request that Ray asked of her months ago. Janice seemed like a good, calm and collected person. She seemed to be transitioning into knowing about the supernatural nice enough. She'd proven herself trustworthy and the pack seemed to like her well enough. Personally, Talia didn't see any reason not to agree to giving her the bite._

 _"Well?" Janice asked as she spun on the pedestal._

 _Talia snapped out of her thoughts as she let her eyes take in the sight of Janice in her dress. "I love it," she smiled. "You are probably going to make Ray speechless when he sees you in it."_

 _"I hope not. It would kind of dampen the day if he couldn't let himself say those two special words." That made Talia laugh a bit with Janice joining her as they moved to help Janice get out of the dress. She then stepped out of the dressing booth in her old clothes. "Thank you for coming with me Talia," she said gratefully._

 _Talia nodded. "Janice, the pleasure was all mine, believe me. And I'm honored that you chose me to be your Maid of Honor."_

 _Janice's smile then got a little mischievous. "Let's see if you'll say that after you get into your bridesmaid dress."_

 _Talia's own face fell and she narrowed her eyes pointedly before the seamstress went and brought her to the dressing booth where the dress was hanging for her to try on. Janice let a breathless chuckle loose as she went to admire a mannequin bride with a flowing veil covering the top._

 _"It is quite beautiful, isn't it?" a man's voice suddenly spoke out. She turned around and saw two men standing side by side. "Is that one yours?" the first one asked her._

 _Janice nodded. "It is."_

 _The other one brought his bottom lip out a bit. "I'm sure you'll make a beautiful bride. I just hope it's to the right groom."_

 _She found that she didn't like how he, and especially his friend, were both looking at her. She started to step a bit off so that she could be in better view of the display windows for passerbys to spot her. "Excuse me but maybe you two should get moving along."_

 _The slightly less creepy one held his hands up as he saw what she was trying to do. "It's okay Janice, we only want to talk. We're not going to hurt you."_

 _That didn't calm her. "How do you know my name?"_

 _"Not just yours," said the creepier one. "But you're fiancé too. Ray, right?"_

 _Janice quickly picked up the closest blunt object, a metallic handbag on a chain, and readied it in her hand. "Leave me alone."_

 _The first one held his hands out further. "Relax, there's no need for that, we just want to talk."_

 _"I believe she said to leave her alone."_

 _The three of them turned to see Talia. She was wearing a hard expression and had the stiff composure to match. However, the effect was somewhat dampened by the frilly bridesmaid dress she was wearing. She glared at the two hunters, Chris Argent and one that she didn't know by name but knew by appearance well enough. The two of them were snickering at the sight of her._

 _"How good to see you Talia. My," Chris said amusingly as he noticeably took the sight of her in. The dress she was wearing was a peach colored satin dress with lace lining at the bottom and at the top and had flowers of silk pinned randomly at the front, back and sides. "I have to say, I'd never thought to see one of you like this."_

 _"Yeah, aren't you more for that bare and natural look, not that I'm complaining," teased the other rudely. He then snickered and was backed by Chris chuckling deeper as his smile widened._

 _Talia kept her composure though, even through their sick attempts to be funny. "Chris, fancy seeing you in a place like this. Last I heard, you were already married."_

 _Chris had long put his hands done as he straightened up. "Yes. And I hear that one of your...associates was getting married himself. Seems he picked a nice looking young lady."_

 _"Who has done nothing to deserve the…pleasure of your company," Talia defended._

 _"Well, maybe she doesn't quite understand the present company that she's associating with and the kind of man she's committing the rest of her life to," he said a little pointedly._

 _This time, it was Janice who folded her arms. "Uh, don't forget that she is standing right here and can speak for herself and she would tell you that she knows perfectly well the kind of people I'm with and the kind of man I'm marrying."_

 _"No, you think you know," Chris told her. "But its been my experience that no matter how innocent and gentle they may appear on the outside," he threw a hard look Talia's way. "They are not. Scratch the surface and they reveal themselves as the vicious creatures they are who will give in to their primal instincts and lash out. It's always only a matter of time and your future husband is no-" There was then a flash of movement and Chris found himself stumbling back as a hand went to the bridge of his nose._

 _Janice let out a deep huff from her nose as she pulled her fist back. "Do you mean like that?" she grumbled._

 _Chris' friend let out a small amused chuckle which made Chris glare slightly at him. "Wow, I think this one could be a lost cause Chris." He then made a show of looking her up and down. "Seems she could be a real dog lover, literally. Maybe she likes the mutt because she actually gets a rush off banging animals. Has a sweet tooth for some good heart pumping bedroom bestiality," he said as he thrust his hips forward a bit to the glares of both ladies. He then looked her up and down a little provocatively. "She does look kind of the vanilla type but they're always the ones that have the spicy tastes, right buddy?" he laughed out before Janice quickly moved and scratched at him with her nails. He hissed as he moved to rub his hand to wipe at the two very thin scratch marks that were already bleeding. "You bitch!" he spat as he was about to go for her._

 _"Rich!" Chris yelled at him just as Talia pulled Janice back to be behind her._

 _"What is going on here!" cried out the seamstress as she moved for them with some ribbons, thread and needles. "I'm calling the police!"_

 _The two hunters quickly bolted out of the shop and ran off to where there were two of their friends ready at a van nearby. They hopped on in and drove off, to the silent bitterness and disgust of the two women in dresses watching from the shop window._

* * *

Stiles straightened up as he looked through the crack in the door at one of the last people that he would want to see. His hand was firmly at the base of the door, ready to close it in an instant. The very last time that he and Argent had been in the same room had been at the hospital and that disaster had ranked the better of their encounters.

"What are you doing here?" Stiles muttered.

Chris heard the bite in his tone but that was to be expected. After all, the last time that he'd come to Stiles' front door, it hadn't exactly been for civil reasons. However, he kept his poise. "To talk. May I come in?"

Stiles rose an inquisitive eyebrow. Argent was still on the most wanted list around here due to the murders the Nogitsune pinned on him and with all the fame that happened with his sister last year, many in town wouldn't forget his face so soon. Stiles knew the hunter wasn't stupid and wasn't buying that he would take a risk for something that trivial. He felt he was up to something. "That's kind of a problem. You see, me and my dad, we don't like hunters in our home."

He then moved to close the door on him but Chris moved to block him from doing so with his foot. Stiles' glare got more focused and Chris held his palms to him. He could see that the boy was expecting and ready for a fight.

"Stiles, I'm not here as a hunter." He brought his arms out. "I didn't bring any of my guns and I don't even have my switchblades or taser. I'm not here to fight with you. I'm here for a talk that I think we've been long overdue."

"There's nothing you could say that I would even want to hear."

"Not even if Scott might be in trouble?"

That made Stiles stiffen up. "What?"

"I'll explain but not here. Ten minutes. That's all I ask."

Stiles wanted nothing more than to slam the door in the guy's face. He didn't know what game Argent was trying to play, throwing Scott's name in like that. He knew that Argent had to be involved with those men based on the evidence he found but wasn't sure how, yet. This might actually help give him some idea. So he sighed and stepped back from the door to open it a bit. "Ten."

Chris was asked to turn over his pockets and leave his jacket behind for Stiles to look through it while he was told to wait in his room. Stiles checked and saw that he was at least telling the truth about having no weapons. He had gone to the bathroom to rinse off which gave Chris a minute to take in the boy's room. There were changes from the last time he'd seen it. He saw two maps of Beacon Hills tacked on the far wall, one a street map and the other one detailing the telluric currents. He saw that there were some colored tacks on them and wondered briefly what they represented when his eyes fell down on something nestled on top of the dresser by them. It was a framed photo of Scott and Stiles. They were both in their lacrosse gear and were smiling widely at the camera as they sat on the bench. They appeared to be a little younger than he was used to and guessed that it was of the boys prior to them turning into werewolves. Chris' eyes were somewhat calculating as he looked at them. He could barely remember seeing Scott smiling like that in person since the night Kate had invited him to dinner with his family and he'd couldn't ever recall seeing Stiles smile. The sound of water running stopped and a few seconds later, Stiles was stepping into the room as he waved his hands to airdry them.

"Okay, your ten minutes start now," he huffed as he went to sit at the edge of his bed.

Chris didn't think it would help to jump into what he was primarily here for and decide to open on what was the biggest change in the room and pointed to it. "You have an evidence board in your room?"

"Yeah. Well when my ADHD came back, I found it hard to keep focus and my Adderall wasn't helping. Laying everything out like this helped."

"But why do you still have it if you could focus clearly again?"

"Well, I saw that seeing everything all at once like this helps me find any holes or pieces that don't fit or are out of place. So, I can find out what's going on around here better and faster. Sure helped out during the Deadpool."

Chris was finding himself impressed. Stiles' problem-solving skills were actually better than he'd seen in most people he knew which actually made him feel that coming here was not only an emotional move, but also an intelligent one. He saw that there was already something on the board. Forms, pictures and notes were spread and were being connected by red yarn. "You know, with problems and mysteries, it's been my experience that they often end where they started. They call it the Nexus. Where everything connects back to and stems out from." Chris looked over at the middle of the board to see that most of the yarn seemed to connect around a bubble. The center point was a question. Who is the Desert Wolf?

Stiles nodded. "Yeah, but I'm sure that you didn't come here to talk mystery lingo. Clock's ticking so how about we get down to it. Now, what's this about? You said something about Scott."

"It's Kate." Chris settled himself as he leaned against the opposite wall. "She went to the hospital because she wanted to confirm if Scott was dead or not and was ready to take his body."

"Yeah, I know that already. I was there, in case you forgot." He folded his arms. "So what?"

"So, why would want Scott's body if he was dead?"

Stiles shrugged. It seemed obvious. "He's an Alpha. Why else would anyone want his body?"

"Yes, but for what? That's what has been bothering me. I can't think of a plausible way that Scott's body would benefit my sister in any way. Not how she is now. Unless it wasn't for her."

Stiles actually straightened up. "What?"

"Kate was sloppy when she came back. The Calaveras were able to easily track her back to Beacon Hills and to La Iglesia. I was also able to follow her movements, especially after she mauled that gas station clerk. That was why she wanted the triskele from the Hale Vault. To learn control. It didn't work out but recently she's found a way to stay out of sight. I tried to track her after the hospital but she was able to cover her trail. It has to mean that someone is helping her and with her history, I'm sure it's not someone that's doing it for free. It might just be someone that is demanding Scott as their price."

Stiles' jaw tightened. "So why are telling me and not him?"

"Because they might be watching him." Chris shook his head. "And I don't want them to know that I'm onto them. Neither does Braeden."

"Braeden?"

"We're both after Kate so we're sharing information." He went and straightened himself a bit as he looked down on Stiles. "I'm sure you could understand, considering you've worked with her. Back in Mexico and I know you tipped her about the hospital soon after it happened."

Stiles folded his arms. "Yeah, I did. I told her about Kate being there, and even about you having her at gunpoint but the only shot you let out that night just missed me," he said pointing to himself. "And you know what she told me? That a hunter like you only ever shoots at what he wants to."

Chris folded his own arms at him. "Stiles, if I really was trying to shoot you, I wouldn't have missed."

"Oh right, because you're on our side now, how stupid of me," he said rolling his eyes. "After all that's the only reason why an Argent is ever here in town. And why you're here now."

Chris narrowed his eyes. He wasn't fooled. "What is this Stiles?"

"What?" he said taken aback.

"I'm not fooled one bit. You're not ranting, you're fishing. You're hoping to get me to slip up and say something. Your father tried the same thing when he wanted to see if I was the Benefactor, only he was a bit more direct. He came out and asked me if the real reason I was back was because I was trying to kill you, for what happened to my daughter? Is that what you're trying to do? Prove that the whole reason I'm back in Beacon Hills is to kill you, because of Allison."

Stiles was surprised that Argent just brought it out like that but quickly recovered and glared at him again. He just wouldn't believe that Argent flew all the way from France just because Scott texted him. He could get that he was looking for Kate, but he knew that couldn't be all that he was here for. "Considering that you smashed a car window and yanked Scott out to pull a gun at his head to shoot him just because you caught him and Allison kissing, I can't help but be suspicious."

"I was never going to shoot him," he defended himself.

"Why, it wouldn't exactly have been the first time," he bitterly shrugged off.

Chris had enough of this. "What do you want me to say Stiles? Huh? Just tell me what you want to hear me say and I'll say it. Do you want me to say that I wish I had killed you when I had the chance? That when you were our prisoner I shouldn't have taken that knife out of you and thrown it away. That I should gone and just slit your throat and plunged it into your heart. Or that when I had my gun on you when we were at the loft that I should've emptied the whole clip into your skull even if your father had a gun on me. That every time I look at you I can't help but always see the sight of you plunging a sword into my daughter and I wouldn't have to if I had just done what I couldn't do. And that the thought of you living and breathing while she isn't will haunt me to no end. That it's all I can do to not just string you up on a tree and take the longest and sharpest sword I could find and slice you in half. If that's what you really want to hear so badly then tell me because I will," he finished with a heated look on his face.

Stiles was just staring back at him with a blank expression. Argent was now facing him, eye to eye and Stiles was trying his hardest to not flinch and look away as he felt a tightness in his chest starting to form. He cleared his throat. "Please, don't hold back on my account," he said in a dry voice.

He disregarded the boy's sarcasm. "Stiles, the simple fact is that I'm not planning to kill you and you know I'm not lying about that."

Stiles just stared hard at him. He would be lying if he said that he didn't feel for Argent, especially after all that, but he couldn't afford to let that blind him to the facts, not like Scott. "Yeah, but that doesn't mean you're telling me the truth." Stiles then went to his desk and opened the bottom drawer and pulled out two chains. "Catch," he said as he threw them Argent's way.

Chris caught them and saw that they were pendants. There were round pendants on chains and he saw that they were both engraved with the same symbol. The Argent family crest. He knew what these were. He turned them around and looked to see where he knew would be initials and while one of them had a pair he didn't recognize, another one did. A very familiar set of initials. "Where did you get these?" he asked Stiles as he looked back up at him.

"From two of the assassins that were trying to kill us. One at the school and one that came to the lake house. As soon as I saw the symbol I recognized it."

Now Chris could see where this was going. "I didn't have anything to do with this."

"But they're friends of yours, aren't they?"

"No," he said to him.

Stiles narrowed his eyes. "Then why did one of them tell me your name?" Chris went silent so Stiles kept going. "He was leading the attack at the lake house and even when the list was shut down, he didn't want to stop until at least I was dead. Before he tried to kill me, he said that you 'had dibs on me but was overdue'?"

"It's not what you're thinking," he started.

But Stiles cut him off. "Oh, you mean if I'm thinking that to protect yourself and cover your ass you went to a couple of old buddies and called in a favor? Then what is it?"

"These medallions aren't like the ones my family has. These are made by recruited hunters that were brought in and trained under a family. They're made as a sign of respect for the training they received under them and a pledge of service to them and their code."

"So they're your cronies? You know, you're not really making a good case for yourself."

"After that whole mess with my father I disbanded my family's operation. All the hunters my family had left I sent them to go their separate ways. The ones you met must have decided to go rogue."

"And I'm just supposed to believe that? Believe you on this like I'm supposed to believe you about Scott having a supernatural stalker that's working with your sister?"

Chris pocketed the medallions. "What did Scott say when you told him?"

"I didn't tell him."

The hunter was surprised. "You didn't?"

"No, and I'm not planning to."

"Why?" This wasn't exactly the kind of thing you keep to yourself. Especially a beta from their Alpha.

Stiles scoffed. "Because there's no point. Scott wouldn't listen to me. He never does, not when it involves you or your family. He trusts all of you and nothing will ever change that. It doesn't matter what he hears, sees or what anyone says, to him you're perfect." He slammed the drawer shut. "The one last night said that you've all been wanting and waiting to take me out. He didn't care about being paid when the Deadpool was shut down. Your buddy wasn't leaving there until he killed me." Stiles let out a small laugh. "It's actually quite the genius plan with the Deadpool giving the most convenient cover. You're off with Scott, looking like the proud hero he seems to think you are and the one that sees you for what you truly are is tragically killed trying to stop the list. But Scott will just toss it all aside so why should I even bother?"

Chris was starting to find real weight behind Satomi's concerns. Something was happening between Scott and Stiles and he was at the root of it. "You know, this picture that you've gone and painted of me is way off Stiles."

"Oh?" Stiles injected. "How exactly am I off? Because even back when you were an active hunter you followed the code? Stuck to the rules the entire time. What was it again?" he asked mockingly as he knew perfectly well what it was. "We Hunt Those Who Hunt Us."

"Yes," Chris spat. "Have I hunted after werewolves? Yes. Did I have to hurt them? Yes, when the situation called for it and believe me, there was plenty of times it did. But, I never killed them, not unless they gave me no choice."

Stiles nodded. "And when they didn't?" he asked in a low tone. "You go out of your way to make them give you one, right? Like say, bashing in their car windows as you're surrounded by your armed friends while they watch. All to make them angry or desperate so they lash out. How about shooting them with poisoned bullets, deliberately avoiding a fatal shot. They don't die, well not directly because of you so the code still sticks. Or how about kidnapping and torturing them with knives, electric rods and jumper cables. You're not killing them so it's technically fair and when they resist you can kill them and claim it justified after the fact. I have to say, for all the talk you put into keeping and honoring your so-called code, you sure love your loopholes. Your code is nothing but garbage and can't be trusted." Chris remained silent so he kept going. "You wanna talk about a Nexus, well your family coming to Beacon Hills over eight years ago is where everything comes back to and stems from. You're the ones who made the Alpha Pack, Darach, and caused us to lose the Alpha that kept this town safe for years. And in the last two years we're all starting to pay for it. I see that, but Scott doesn't. And he won't, not with you, Kate, Gerard or even a month ago with the Calaveras. He doesn't want to see it with any hunter."

"Because of Allison," said Chris.

Stiles let a heated huff out through his nose. "From the very moment he laid eyes on her, Scott was blinded. First it was to risk our secret to try and impress her. Then it was risking his, Derek and my life so that he could date her. Ignoring what she and Kate and you did and were trying to do to us because he wanted to get back with her. Afterwards, it was selling us all out so that he could keep her. Then he downplayed what she, what all of you did and wanted to do to us, because he didn't want her to leave him, even when they weren't together anymore. He loved her and now that he'll never be with her, she has a tighter hold on him than ever and it's like he has to try to win her back through all of you. He can't think straight when it comes to any hunter, even when they are hurting and trying to kill us because, to him, you're all Allison."

"And you?" Chris asked lightly.

"What about me?" Stiles was starting to breathe a little harder than normal.

"Scott loved Allison, but you hated her." Stiles just silently glared at him. "Didn't you?" he pressed.

"Yes," he spat out. "I hated her and I still do. Ever since she came into my life, she's done nothing but make it hell! She messes with my best friend's mind and makes me into the bad guy whenever I said or did anything that didn't make her seem less than perfect! She goes and captures me, leaves me to be tortured and makes my dad go out of his mind and feel totally helpless when he sees me beaten and bruised and somehow, she ends up being the victim?! The only reason that she didn't even go through with any of it was because Gerard betrayed her before she could finish! And she has Scott rushing to her rescue whenever I so much as narrow my eyes at her! Then she goes and dies all to try and save my life. So now, it's like I'm just supposed to pretend that everything she did to me, to Erica, Boyd, tried to do to Derek and put my dad through is all forgiven which makes me mad! But then, I feel guilty because I feel like I'm a bad person for feeling that. And that only makes me madder because it's like she's cheating to force me to have to forgive her. Then I feel guiltier for thinking that she died all so she could hold something over me. Which only makes me angrier because it's like I'm suddenly wrong to feel angry and keep hating her for what happened as I still have nightmares and flashes of all of it. And that makes feel guilty again, which only makes me madder, which of course only makes me feel more guilty, which makes me more mad! No matter what, I'm screwed, thanks to her!" He then let himself reveal his blue eyes to emphasize that point.

It seemed that tirade took quite a bit out of him because Stiles was taking deep, winded breaths like he had just run a marathon and he turned to look away from the hunter as he grabbed the hair on the back of his head furiously. It was obvious to Chris that had all been building and bottled up in the boy for the longest time and he hadn't meant to say as much as he had. As hard as it was, he was actually taking it as a good sign. Some part of Stiles had to believe that it was easy to unload what he clearly had been holding in for a while, even if it was to someone he felt wasn't to be trusted. Hopefully they could build from that. He waited a moment until it looked like Stiles had settled himself before he started talking again.

"Well...I hope you didn't hold back on my account," he said dully. Stiles gave him an annoyed look but Chris didn't give him a chance to respond as he went and dug into his shirt collar and pulled out the chain he had on under it. He then took it off and bunched it into his hand. He looked at it for a moment before he tossed it up at him. "Catch," he said when he did.

Stiles caught it with his right hand and took a look. It was a pendant but it wasn't the Argent pendant that he was familiar with. It had a small shield shape and pressed into the shield was the Argent family crest. Below the shield was a feathered arrow that was pointed down. He also saw that it seemed to be made from pure silver. "What is this?"

"It's something I made myself. It was meant be the new Argent family pendant. The night that she was making her silver arrowhead, I went to make this for her. I wanted it to be a surprise and give it to her after she finished her initiation ceremony…but I wasn't able to give this to her. She never even saw it." He took a moment to despair that fact before he shook out of it. "Turn it around."

Stiles did and he found something on the back of the shield. It was an inscription and it was in chicken scratch but Stiles could make out a motto. There was also something engraved on the neck of the arrow. It was the word Protéger. All the words looked French. "What does it say?"

The shield is a motto: We Protect Those Who Can't Protect Themselves. Allison made it up herself. And the word on the arrow is Protector. That is what Allison wanted to be. For our family's new legacy to be. Not hunters, protectors. After she died, I wanted to leave it at her grave, but with me being a wanted man, I couldn't go near it. So, I've been wearing it ever since."

Stiles let himself stare at the pendant a bit longer. He had to admit, it actually looked kind of neat. But he shook himself out of his stupor and tore his eyes away and looked back at Chris. "Why are you telling me all this? Or showing me this?" he asked with a restrained hitch in his voice.

"Don't worry, I'm not trying to make you feel worse or garner any sympathy. I'm giving it to you."

Stiles was thrown. He wasn't sure he heard that right. "What?"

"Not permanently. At least until I find Kate. I just want you to hold onto it for me. It's all I have left of Allison and is the most important thing in the world to me. I'm trusting you with it. What happens next depends on you."

"Why?"

Chris sighed. "Because trust has to start somewhere. And, with our particular case, it looks like it has to start with me." He then looked at his watch. "And it looks like my ten minutes ran out ten minutes ago," he said, showing him the time. "I told you about the danger Scott might be in, and what you choose to make of it is up you." Chris began to move out of the room but Stiles didn't follow. He kept his gaze on the pendant laid out in his palm. "Oh," Chris said stopping himself at the doorway. "And you don't have to."

Stiles still had his back to him but he moved his gaze towards the window ahead of him. "Have to what?" he mumbled back to him.

"Forgive her," explained Chris as his eyes got a little shiny. "Before she died…Allison had said that you didn't have to do something. She wasn't able, to finish," he muttered sadly. "But I think she meant that you didn't have to forgive her. She wasn't there to try and balance the scale or make up for her mistakes. She wasn't even there for Scott. She had been there that night because she felt you were someone worth protecting and saving even if you hated her and always would. If you still couldn't forgive her, my daughter was okay with that."

"And that's just okay with you?"

"Me? If that was her final choice, then I have to accept it despite what I feel. But, if something happens to you Stiles, then that means that my daughter died for nothing and that I won't accept, no matter what. So you don't have to trust me, but I ask for you to at least trust in that."

Stiles had kept his back to Chris so the man hadn't seen the angry tear running down the side of his eye as the boy kept glaring out in the direction of the window during his final words. As the hunter finally moved to leave Stiles looked back down at the pendant. Allison's pendant. The one that she never got a chance to hold, let alone wear. His eyes, which had stayed glowing blue since the end of his spat, they slowly faded and went back to his normal honey brown as he let his fingers rub over to design.

Chris saw that Stiles wasn't turning to look back at him so he headed off, grabbing his jacket and then out the front door. Chris felt a sting in his arm and his hand went to rub over the scars to try and ebb it away. He wasn't sure if Stiles would really believe what he feared about Kate and whomever she was undoubtedly working with, but he hoped he would at least be on his guard. One thing that he did agree with Stiles about Scott was that the Alpha could be too trusting for his own good. That's why it made more tactical sense to reach out and warn Stiles rather than Scott. And, hopefully it would help in loosening the tension that seemed to be building between the two teens as far as the issue of himself was concerned. But, right now, his meeting with Stiles had given him a new issue. The pain in his arm subsided and he used that hand to reach into his pocket and look at the hunter medallions. Or one of them. The one with RB inscribed on the back with claw mark used to underline it.

* * *

 _Laura Hale smiled as she drove passed the Welcome to Beacon Hills sign as she pulled into town in her Camaro. She was visiting for the weekend so that she could attend the wedding of her mother's beta Ray. She was excited to see everyone again. She had been away for over two weeks and she already deeply missed everyone. She pulled into the front of her family's house to see that Ray's car was already parked in the driveway. She opened the front door, expecting to see and hear happy people inside, but was greeted with yelling and the sight of her mother trying to retrain Ray with the help of Peter._

 _"Where is she? Is she okay?" he asked as he frantically paced with Peter right behind him._

 _"She's fine Ray," Talia said gently but sternly. "I took her home right after and told her to call the police if she saw them again. You have to calm down."_

 _Ray's shoulder was being pushed down by Peter but he pulled it back and out of Peter's grip. "Don't tell me to calm down! Hunting and harassing me was one thing, but for Argent and his cronies to go after my fiancé. She's innocent and has done nothing wrong and they went after her to get to me." His fangs were starting to poke through his clenched teeth._

 _"Ray," Talia said sternly, her wolfish nature leaking out in her tone._

 _"What's going on?" Laura spoke out making the three wolves turn to her in shock._

 _"Laura!" Talia's face immediately softened and she rushed to go over and give her daughter a hug. "You made it."_

 _"Yeah," she said returning the hug. She then broke free. "What's going on."_

 _Peter sighed. "The Argents. They went and targeted Janice."_

 _Laura's eyes widened. "What?! Is she alright?"_

 _"She's fine," her mother assured her. "They only scared her."_

 _"Only?" Ray growled under his breath._

 _Peter huffed heatedly through his nose. "Seems the hunters got tired of just watching us to track down the rest of the pack so they are trying to force us into the open. They already know about Ray so they went after his fiancé."_

" _How did they even know I was getting married and to who? I was so careful to make sure no one saw me with her since you had us go under Talia?"_

 _She was stumped. "I guess they've been asking around about you and studying your history since you're the only beta outside my family they know."_

 _Ray balled his hands into a tight fist, so tight that his claws were digging into his palms and some blood was leaking out. "Well if they want to know me that much then they'll get to know my claws when I go and tear their faces off!"_

 _"Yes, which is exactly what they want Ray!" Talia spat back. "They want you to lose it and go for them. When you do, they can justify killing you as per their code. Don't give them the excuse they want."_

 _"So what?" Ray growled. "I'm just supposed to sit on my hands while they get away with harassing Janice scot free?"_

 _Talia raised her eyebrows a little amused to everyone's immediate befuddlement. "Oh, they didn't exactly get away scot free. Janice left her own impression on them," she said with some satisfaction on top of amusement leaking out in her tone. "She gave Argent one hell of a right hook while she left a good mark on his friend's cheek. Too bad for him that we were saving the manicures for later."_

 _Laura couldn't help the small snickers escaping her and Ray was still frowning but some pride started to swell in him on how his fiancé let the hunters have it._

 _But Peter scoffed. "So, what? You really think they're going to back off and call it quits just because of a bruise and scratch?" he asked as he rose his voice a bit higher than before. "The full moon is on Sunday; that's three days away. He looked pointedly at Ray. "Ray, I'm happy to see that at least you seem to be taking what they just tried to pull on your fiancé seriously," he said letting his eyes roam back to his now glaring sister. "Can't you see that now no one connected to the pack is safe, werewolf or human, and you still want to do nothing?"_

 _Talia's eyes went narrower. "I never said we do nothing. Ray and Janice are going to get married this weekend and it will be the best time of their lives and no one is going to ruin that. I'll see to it that nothing happens to her. Okay?"_

 _"Oh you'll see to it?" Peter savagely threw in. "Like two years ago when you 'saw' to keeping Laura's little friend safe when hunters had their eye on him because you did such a good job there." He then looked over at his niece. "What was he called again?"_

 _"Peter," Talia said in warning._

 _But her brother ignored her. "Oh right. Riley."_

 _Tears started to fall from the corners of Laura's eyes as she glared at her uncle. Talia also noticed that Ray's breathing was starting to pick up and she could feel that he was close to losing it again. Talia knew her brother was going too far._

 _"Peter, that's enough!" she spat out at him. "Go outside and wait for me at the porch, now!" she ordered._

 _Peter huffed out through his nose but stomped out and slammed the front door behind him. Ray grit his teeth before quickly turned and moved to grip onto the opposite wall. Talia moved over and ran a comforting hand up and down his back. Ray let himself lean into his Alpha as he slowly took long deep breaths and started to mumble. The three hearing sensitives could easily make out his words of 'Alpha, Beta, Omega' being repeatedly uttered under his breath._

 _When his heart rate settled back down, Talia pulled her arm away. "Laura, can you stay with Ray for a moment?" Laura nodded as she was trying to subtly get rid of the tears that had come out. "Laura?"_

 _"I'm fine mom," she said kind of quickly and sternly. "Really."_

 _Talia just nodded before she followed after her brother. Peter was pacing angrily but stopped when he heard the front door open and close. His back was facing it but he didn't need to see that his sister was there and was glaring daggers at him._

 _"Something you want to say?" he hissed out._

 _"Where, the hell, do you get off Peter?" Talia wasn't screaming or hissing out her words. They were calm and collected but you could easily pick out the fierce rage in each syllable she had spoken in. So much that Peter was fighting the urge to flinch. "How dare you throw Riley back in my face, in front of Laura no less."_

 _Peter pulled out all of his inner strength to turn around and face his sister with a steely and unrelenting look. "Why not Talia? After all, isn't that the whole reason why you picked Laura to be your successor? You made her your second after it happened too. All because you're trying to make it up to her for letting her lose Riley and doing nothing about it?"_

 _"No, I chose Laura because she the best suited to take over for me. And I made her my second because I was seeing that my former one was starting to turn into a bloated idiot with self-entitlement issues," she said giving her brother a pointed look. "And I didn't let her lose him or do nothing."_

 _"You didn't hide the fact that you didn't like him. Always trying to talk them away from being with each other, that's why you lied to her about looking for him when he vanished. Then after his body turned up, you just let his killers walk. You know the Argents killed him and let it slide. Old habits die hard I guess."_

 _"We don't know if it was the Argents. For all we know, it was the one that Riley was hunting after. There was nothing on his body to prove exactly who it was."_

 _Peter wasn't done. "At least you're consistent, aren't you sis? I mean, Laura and her first love. Then Derek and his first love. Cora's next in line, isn't she? You going to have her lose her first love too? Complete the tradition?" Peter said no more as Talia had charged forward and gave Peter the hardest slap she could muster. He put a hand to his face to see that it was bleeding as Talia had put her claws into that one. "You know, if only you defended us more often with the same ferocity then maybe then our family, our pack wouldn't be so afraid to actually live in our own town. But instead you let the Argents be the ones who feel secure in this town as they plot to destroy us because they know that they're completely safe to do whatever they want."_

 _"Well if that's what they really believe then they're wrong," she growled. "This is my territory, our home, and they aren't welcome here. But, we can't and won't do anything to them unless they actually do something to us."_

 _"So we just stand back and wait until they draw first blood? Talia, you are insane. When they do finally draw blood, it won't be a spill, it'll be a damn flood. This whole thing with Janice just proves they're getting impatient. What happens when they step up and come for us more directly? Are we just supposed to mope around like lambs to the slaughter?!"_

 _Talia's red eyes started to shine through. They actually flashed bright red, brighter than usual. "If they so much as bend a strand of hair from any of our heads, then I'll personally go and break every one of them in half. I will tear out each one of their hearts and show it to them as their light fades from their eyes. But, this pack won't cast the first stone. We have a code too, and unlike them, we follow it, to the letter. No loopholes or cutting corners." She then pointed a clawed finger at him. "And if you so much as try to cross even a toe out of line, I'll rip it and your throat off. You understand?" she threatened lowly._

 _He let out a deep heated breath. "Completely," he sighed out._

 _Back inside the house, Ray was still taking deep breaths as he kept himself in check. Laura was sitting the arm of the couch as she stared off at the front door._

 _"You okay?"_

 _Laura turned away and looked over at Ray as he looked at her in concern. "Shouldn't it be me asking that?" she asked sadly but with a bit of amusement leaking in._

 _Ray finally cracked somewhat of a smile even if he was still feeling a bit on edge. He wanted something to distract himself from his own thoughts. "Laura, who was Peter talking about? Who's this Riley guy?" Laura looked back at him and he flinched back. He then realized "Oh, no. Forget I asked."_

 _Laura sighed. "No, it's okay." Ray had been turned and brought into the pack a couple of months after all of that and they all were resolved into not talking about it so of course he wouldn't know who he was. She sighed and cleared her throat. "Uh it was a bit before you first met us. Close to two years ago, this guy came to Beacon Hills and came to visit my mother. His name was Riley Astor. He was a shape-shifter."_

 _"Werewolf?" asked Ray._

 _Laura shook his head. "No. He was…something else. Anyway, his father had just been killed and he had tracked his killer to somewhere around here. He knew that my mother was the Alpha and this was her territory so he came to ask her permission to track him on our land. My mom not only gave him permission but even offered to help. I was on the track team so I ran the trails on the preserve and would run into him from time to time."_

 _Ray saw Laura's eyes soften a bit and guessed where this was going. "You two got close."_

 _She let a small smile come over her. Laura took a moment to remember Riley's cute dimples that he showed off whenever he smiled at her. His dark and wavy hair that helped compliment a kind of wandering rebel look and he often would try to have the attitude to match. But as he did, she really liked the caring guy that he truly was underneath, especially when he spoke of the younger brother waiting for him back home. "Yeah. We did. Mom found out and she kind of wasn't too happy. She thought that us hanging out together so much wasn't a good idea. I mean, he was older than me for one. He was already out of school for over a year and I was a junior and she kept reminding me that he was only here temporarily so I shouldn't get too attached, but I couldn't help it. He actually became my…first." She had a flash of running her hands along his tanned toned body. Riley was quite tall and toned, not too overly muscular. He was a bit on the lanky side, like a swimmer but it actually helped and worked out for him when he did his 'thing' and shifted to move and fight._

 _"Oh," Ray said with an awkward nod as his wolf senses started to detect Laura's lingering heavy attraction for Riley. But then his face fell. "Something tells me the story only goes downhill from here."._

 _"All of a sudden, he went missing. I hadn't heard from him for days and my mother told me that I shouldn't worry as Riley had probably gotten a lead or had left Beacon Hills and I shouldn't worry. But I did and spent two days straight looking for him before his body had been found in the tunnels of the city's water purification plant by some maintenance surveyors."_

 _"What happened to him?"_

 _Laura rubbed at her upper lip to catch a stray tear. "Uh…he had been cut into. It looked like there were knife wounds all over the body. And…someone took his talons."_

 _Ray narrowed his eyes. "Talons? You mean his claws, right?"_

 _"No," She shook her head. "I mean talons. His wings had been clipped too." Ray's eyes widened at the word wings. "Like I said, he was different. Anyway, my mother looked into it and realized that he hadn't been killed there. She had managed to pick up a small trail leading from the plant to an abandoned depot in town where she found a large spot of his blood. His body had been dumped there, away from where he had been killed."_

 _"Did she find who did it?" Ray asked._

 _"No. Whoever had been there had covered their tracks and concealed any scents to follow from there but she could tell that it was more than one. My uncle thought that the Argents had something to do with it. Their leader Gerard had started poking around for a few days at the time but my mother guessed that Riley might've found who he was looking for and had tried to go for them alone and gotten taken down."_

 _"Oh, I'm sorry Laura. I shouldn't have brought it up."_

 _"It's okay, and it wasn't you. Peter brought it up. I just hope that things can go better for you and Janice then they did for me and Riley." Or Derek and Paige, she had silently added._

* * *

Scott was looking through a PSAT study guide. There was an announcement made that the PSAT's were being re-given in two weeks. He needed to get a good score on the PSAT, if only to help and make up for his average. Scott was starting to get a little scared at how it was looking. The first half of junior year, his grades had never looked better. He had been getting solid B's and B+'s along with the random A here and there. His mother had been so proud of him, so had he. But, in the last month since the new term started, seeing a B had become rare. After the Quarantine, Scott had been called into the guidance office as the new counselor, Ms. Monroe, had seen his latest drop and had heard concerns from a few teachers that he might be backsliding into the slump he was in last year. Scott had missed a few assignments and the ones he'd done were coming back a full letter grade lower than before. Scott knew why his grades were starting to suffer. What with the assassins and Liam, he hadn't been devoting as much focus in school as he'd been before, but that was just one of the problems. The work had always been hard for him to get right away, even at the start of term, but having smart friends like Stiles and Lydia to help him study and understand had started to change that. Lately though, Lydia's study notes tended to drift towards Malia so that she could catch up with everyone else.

Then there was Stiles. He was also going off and studying more with Malia. She was his girlfriend after all so it would make sense that he would want to help her but it was more than that. Even after he and Malia had their falling out, they haven't come together to study not once. Scott noticed that outside school and pack related matters, he and Stiles weren't hanging around with each other much. And, even in those times, they seemed to be getting at each other's throats. Scott looked back and realized that this had been building for a while, since the school year started. Stiles hadn't been what some would call a people person but he'd been having quite a lot of trust issues lately. Kira and Liam, it was obvious they were good people but his friend had been hesitant to let himself see that. At least now it looked like Stiles was passed that, but was still refusing to see it with Argent. And…with Allison. When Scott went to her funeral, he'd noticed that Stiles hadn't been there. Lydia, Isaac and even Kira had gone, but not him. Even after everything, it looked like he still didn't want to let go of his bitter feelings for her or her father. Stiles was more than just bitter though. Last night, when he was standing over that assassin, ready and willing to rip him to shreds, Scott had actually found the notion…satisfying. And that scared him. But Stiles, it was like he was too eager to indulge himself with tearing into people, kind of like the _other_ him had been. He guessed that Stiles wouldn't be quite the same after he was saved from his possession and went back to being a werewolf but this was a far cry from what he was used to. He'd hardly even seen Stiles old smile or laugh. Anything close to one he'd been seeing lately had always been laced with sarcasm or maliciousness. It was like a part of Void Stiles had permanently set in and wouldn't go away. Sometimes, he swore that he could see it every time Stiles shifted, and he looked into his eyes. Scott took a moment to sigh to himself as a flash of blue invaded his mind and feel as if a knot just tied in his stomach. He swallowed to try and stave it away.

That's why he'd started freaking out about him and Liam when he heard it. He didn't risk having Liam get that part of Stiles to rub off when he already had trouble with his anger. Sure, he'd admit that Stiles tended to know what he was talking about when it came to learning to control and tap into their abilities. It was how Liam might start thinking of using them that had his concern. He didn't hesitate to use what Stiles showed him against Deputy Haigh and was close to losing it. He just hoped that with the danger now gone, things could slow down enough for Liam to start getting back some semblance of normalcy in his life and focus less on learning to be a werewolf and more on being a high school kid. For all of them to.

Scott found he couldn't put much focus on the PSAT guide anymore now and looked over at the clock to see he'd been working for over an hour when he went to give himself a break. He had gone to the kitchen to fix himself a sandwich and he opened the fridge to see that there was not too much in there. The power company had denied his mother's request to have their electricity returned when she called because the payment was just too late and she did end up having to throw out the groceries as they spoiled. She had managed to pay the bill a few days ago so the power was back now though the damage had clearly been done. He saw that there were some smoked ham slices left so he made himself a simple ham sandwich. His mother was still at the hospital, working a double shift to make at least make the main mortgage payment before she worked on the late fees as they were on their second notice. She had been calling the Sheriff to give her a ride to and from work to try and cut down on gas costs for the car. With the Deadpool over and done with, Scott was now free to focus and fully despair on their own financial problems.

He glumly finished his sandwich and got back to his room but froze when his eyes fell on the duffle bag leaking out from under his bed. He found himself bending down and pulling it out. He opened it and his hands went over the piles of money that was inside it. He found himself breathing a little quickly and his pulse spiking at the touch of it. Everything that was running through Scott's mind seemed to be pressing in all at once. The Deadpool was done and all this money wouldn't be missed compared with the rest that was taken. For all anyone knew, it was long gone. Only he and Stiles even knew it was here and even with what seemed to be going on with them, Stiles hadn't said anything to anyone about it. Scott didn't really know what possessed him to think all that, or to do what he did next. Before he knew it, he was taking four one hundred-dollar bills, each one from a different stack to make them still seemed untouched and pocketed them. He was breathing a little hard after he did, before he kicked the bag back under his bed and went to grab his jacket as he moved to get into his mom's car and was driving off for the supermarket. He calmly walked down the aisles with a shopping cart as he slowly loaded it with things that he felt they needed, and in other cases, didn't need. For the first time in weeks, he wasn't worrying about money or costs.

As he was looking at some frozen meat, his phone started ringing. He saw that it was Kira. "Hi Kira," he answered.

"Scott, my mom's fully recovered," she quickly chimed in.

Scott's eyes widened. "What?"

"Yeah. All the scars she had have healed and she's not in pain anymore. She's back to normal. As soon as I found out, I just had to call you."

"That's great Kira."

"It was." Kira's tone then changed. "But, she and my dad heard about what happened last night. They were freaked, especially when they saw the news about all those assassins getting arrested at Lydia's lake house. The pictures that they showed of the bullet holes in the walls and all the damage got to them and they started asking if that was how it was with me."

"Yeah, it was crazy. But, it's behind us now. We can finally relax and get back to our normal lives."

"And what does one do with a normal life Scott," she said teasingly. "It's been only around four months but I feel like I can't remember what passes for normal."

"Well, how about I help you remember? With a date."

Kira paused for a moment. "A date? You mean, you and me?"

"Yeah," he sighed out with a smile but then it quickly fell. "Don't you want to?" he asked, starting to get scared she'll say no.

"Uh, yeah," she panted out. "Of course. I'd love to."

"Great."

Scott was so giddy after that he was getting reckless with the shopping cart, so much that he nearly ran it into three different people. He suddenly found shopping to be one of the most enjoyable things ever. After about an hour, Scott was at the cashier line and watched all the groceries get rung through, and found there was actually some money left over to buy a good decent meal. He decided that he would to surprise his mother at work before he went back home and let her be further surprised when she got back and saw the kitchen and fridge fully stocked. Groceries done, a soon to be happy mom, and he had a real date with Kira, his day couldn't get any better.

As he was rolling the cart out into the parking lot and heading for the car, his eyes fell to the road and he froze when he spotted a familiar blue jeep. It was stopped at the signal light and Scott made out Stiles' face in the driver's seat. Scott focused his vision and saw that Stiles lips were moving, like he was talking to someone and he realized that his friend wasn't alone. Stiles settled back a bit into his seat and gave Scott a clearer view of the passenger seat next to him, where he spotted Liam. Scott then narrowed his eyes as he detected a hint of fear from their direction. It was from Liam. Before he could react, the signal went green and the jeep quickly went off. Scott found himself narrowing his eyes at the distancing jeep and the direction they were going. Scott knew they weren't heading for either of their homes or to the school. If he had to guess, they seemed to be heading for the woods and if they were then he knew why. But what he didn't know was why Liam seem so worried? His earlier high spirit had sunk.

* * *

 _The town of Beacon Hills had much in the way of beautiful natural scenery. One of those places was a community garden that had a good view of the mountain cliffside nearby It had been reserved for the wedding and would be the perfect setting for the ultimate ceremony. Talia was helping to see that everything had been ready beforehand both with the ceremony, and with security. Thanks to the owner of the bridal shop making the report of the hunters' little incident, Talia was able to go to the new Sheriff, Noah Stilinski, and collaborate the story as she used it as a precedent to ask for some extra protection for the wedding. She went and manipulated the truth a little and spun that her friend Janice was being harassed and she was worried that someone might do something at her wedding like they did at the shop. Stilinski agreed with her concern and said that he would have a few deputies stationed around the wedding and would personally be there to make sure that no one would so much as step foot around there without an invite. When she smiled gratefully at him, Talia managed to pick up a mild hint of attraction coming off as he momentarily got caught up her gaze before he blinked himself back into focus. She felt it was a good development as him being taken with her could really come in handy in the near future so she went and offered her number, but he politely declined to her surprise. She had picked up sadness and some grief behind his refusal. Later, she learned that his wife had passed almost half a year ago and felt a little guilty for her manipulation attempt. However, they now had what she needed to at least keep her promise to Ray and make sure that Chris Argent and his cronies didn't ruin this time for Ray, Janice or the pack._

 _As the song 'Here Comes the Bride' played on the musician's keyboard, Cora began walking down the carpeted aisle, glowing and beautiful in her flower girl dress, as laid the flower trail behind her. Janice then began to walk over to the flower arch where Ray was standing in wait with his best man. He was smiling widely as he got closer and he could smell her own joy with his super senses. There were roughly over fifty guests seated, including the whole entire Hale family and the pack as they were nestled on the groom's side. When the vows were traded between the two, as well as the rings, the Minister began the final vows._

" _Do you, Raymond Terrell, take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health till death do you part?"_

 _Ray smiled. "I do," he said unflinchingly._

" _And do you, Janice Martin, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health till death do you part?"_

" _I do," Janice said just as unflinchingly._

" _Then by the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."_

 _Ray and Janice then moved to kiss each other just as the marriage score started playing and everyone stood to applaud the new married couple. The ladies all then gathered as Janice was getting ready to throw the bouquet. It had gone and been caught by Cora, who had screamed in delight while all the women laughed in amusement._

 _In the next hour, the garden was full of music and laughter as all the wedding guests were dancing and drinking together. The bride and groom were at the center as they swayed together in the middle of everyone. Talia was strolling through the activity, keeping a watchful eye. She spotted her brother, dancing with one of the bridesmaids, talking and flirting her up and she seemed to like it. She spotted her betas here and there and caught sight of Cora laughing and playing with the other kids. She caught sight of Derek, in some far corner of the party, talking with his sister Laura. It seemed everything was going fine. Talia then looked over and spotted Sheriff Stilinski calmly watching from behind a fence with a focused look on his face. As she stared at him, she couldn't help but think that with how the sunlight was hitting, the man was quite handsome. She then found herself remembering the Tate wreckage. She remembered that Stilinski had been there that day and she recalled that he had taken it upon himself to take the stressful responsibility of breaking the news to Henry Tate personally. And now he was determined to protect everyone here and make sure nothing bad happened. It was clear that he was both a dedicated and compassionate man, and Talia couldn't help but find it adding to his appeal. With everyone caught up in all the fun, she moved on over for him._

 _"Oh, Ms Hale," he said when he noticed her coming over._

 _"Please, call me Talia."_

 _"Talia," He smiled at her before looking at the bridesmaid dress she was wearing. "Nice dress."_

 _She let herself look down at the ridiculous peach dress she was wearing and rose a skeptical eyebrow at him. "No, it isn't."_

 _He let out a small laugh. "Well, it's whole lot better than what my wife's bridesmaids wore at our wedding. If you had seen them, believe me, you would agree that you got off lucky."_

 _She let off a small laugh herself before her face softened a bit as she saw that he was now feeling sad. She then remembered what she learned about his wife. "I heard that she just passed. I'm sorry."_

 _"Thank you," he mumbled gratefully to her. "It's been hard, especially for my son Stiles."_

 _She rose an eyebrow, not at fact he had a son, but at what he was called. "That's an interesting name."_

 _Noah's lip curved a bit. "It's what he likes to be called. His name is kind of hard for people to say."_

 _"How old is he?"_

 _"Just turned nine."_

 _"Oh, my youngest is the same age. That's not a good age to experience loss, especially someone like that."_

 _He shook his head. "No, it isn't. He's started to get panic attacks and I've caught him sleepwalking at least two times since then."_

" _My…where's your son now?" she asked in concern._

" _He's over at his best friend's house while his parents are watching them." He then sighed. "I've tried to help but I feel like I'm not doing much to get him through this. Especially when I have my own grief and pain to deal with. I don't know what else to do."_

 _Talia stood there and let the man unload his troubles to her. Sometimes, it was easier to share things like that with a stranger. Her gaze fell a bit. "Keep trying," she told him. "That's all you really can do, try. Just, one day at a time."_

 _"Speaking from personal experience?" he asked and Talia looked down towards the ground. Her silence was all the answer he needed. "You have kids, right?"_

 _"Three."_

 _"But you're alone at a wedding. They lost their father, your husband too?"_

 _"Oh, their father and I weren't married." His eyes widened a little at that. "It was…complicated," she sighed out. "He wasn't really in a situation where he could stick around as long as either one of us wanted."_

 _"Career?" Noah guessed._

 _She somewhat nodded. "Yeah, you could say that." He was a strong werewolf, one who could shapeshift like her and also like her, was a dedicated Alpha. He and Talia had met through a mutual acquaintance and they had seen each other on and off for quite a few years. They had quite a lot in common and felt a strong, and intimate connection and had given into it quite a few times over the years when they crossed paths. Three of those times resulted in Laura, Derek and Cora. But he couldn't stay in Beacon Hills and be a constant in their lives because of the werewolves in his charge. That was really why she didn't want Laura to get involved with Riley, so she didn't get herself into the same complicated and difficult situation. "He died almost five years ago," she explained to the Sheriff. Killed actually, defending his pack against a rival group of shapeshifters. Talia wanted to track them down and avenge him but she couldn't as she had her own pack and children to focus on. And recently, it felt like she wasn't doing too good of a job keeping them safe and away from those that were trying to hurt them. Talia didn't want to admit it but Peter's words of having a habit of doing nothing as bad things happen to her family was starting to eat at her._

 _"I'm sorry," Noah mumbled to her as he saw her sinking into her own depression. He looked back out to where the party was visible and decided to get them both out of this fit of self-pity they had both found themselves in. "Well, it had been a great wedding and the party seems to be going well."_

 _She nodded as she tried to push out of her funk. "Yes. Everyone is having a good time. It's all-"_

 _"Going off without a hitch?" he offered._

 _Talia tilted her head. "Interesting choice of words for where two just got hitched, wouldn't you say?"_

 _Noah let out a small chuckle. "Yeah, I thought so."_

'Funny and Handsome,' _Talia thought amusingly to herself. Talia looked around and noticed a woman nearby in a deputy uniform. She was able to pick up quite a bit of vigilance coming from her and grew concerned. "Has there been any trouble?"_

 _He shook his head. "No," he said mildly._

 _But Talia narrowed her eyes. The Sheriff's heart had jumped. "Are you sure? No problems, whatsoever?"_

 _Noah looked over at Talia and saw that she seemed to be trying to stare him into submission. For some reason, he found himself cracking under the pressure of her unflinching gaze. "Well… there was an incident. However, it's under control," he said quickly._

 _"What kind of incident?"_

" _It's nothing to worry about now. I don't want you or your friends to have your day spoiled."_

 _But Talia only pushed harder. "Please Sheriff, it's okay, tell me. I need to know."_

 _He sighed. "We didn't want to start a panic but, during the vows one of my deputies caught someone sneaking around, a man. He saw that he was noticed and tried to subtly leave but my deputy went to confront him and ask what he was doing there when the man pushed him down and made a break for it."_

 _"Oh, was your deputy hurt? Did you catch the man?" she quickly asked._

 _"Fortunately my deputy is okay. Unfortunately the perp got away," he heatedly sighed out. "My deputy said that he had hopped into a van and it quickly drove off. But he managed to get a decent look at the guy when he got pushed. He left to go to our sketch artist while its still fresh."_

 _Talia narrowed her eyes. "What did he look like?"_

 _"Uh I believe he said he was around early to mid-30's, tall, with dark and somewhat long and curly brown hair. Oh and he noticed a long scratch at his cheek."_

 _Talia knew who it was. It was the hunter that had been with Chris Argent at the store. The one Janice scratched. She went back to the party and quickly spotted Laura as she was talking with some of Janice's work friends. She called for her daughter so they could talk._

 _"Is something wrong mom?" she asked._

 _"Maybe. It's best that you keep an eye out." But she noticed something missing, or rather someone. "Where's Derek?"_

 _Laura scanned the length of the party but didn't see him. "I don't know."_

 _They didn't see that Derek wasn't the only one that was missing._

 _At that moment, Derek was heading inside an apartment building and riding the elevator to the right floor. He had talked with his sister about what their mother was planning for this weekend. Since the full moon was on Sunday night, and emotions had been rather high with everyone because of the wedding, the pack was coming together at their house to watch and be with each other during it. Derek realized that he would have all the more people keeping an eye on him so he couldn't sneak out to go to Senior Scribe. In the meantime, Laura was leaving Saturday to head back to Berkeley with no worries whatsoever. He got so mad that he didn't feel in much of a mood to enjoy the party. Laura suggested that he try to talk with one of the daughters of Janice's work friends but he didn't want to. Not when he already had someone that really understood him and he enjoyed being with. Kate. After he had learned that she was an Argent, she had told him that primarily served as her family's lore and tracking expert. She showed him that she actually preferred to limit her experiences with werewolves and other shapeshifters to books and illustrations. She actually wanted to become a teacher which was why she was working as a T.A. at the high school this summer for an internship. He asked if she knew how to shoot and she confessed that she did as she was taught how to defend herself as there would be shapeshifters that hated her family and would go after her as she would be target for getting revenge. As they got more and more into talking, Derek found that he and Kate had a lot in common with how they felt about their families. He felt that he finally had someone that could truly understand him and didn't have to keep secrets from. He got to the apartment door and knocked and about ten seconds later, it opened and there she was, as pretty as ever._

 _She opened it and her eyes widened at the sight of him in the tuxedo. "Wow, you didn't have to get so dressed up for me," she joked. "Especially when I didn't get a chance to dress for the occasion."_

 _He rose his eyebrows as he saw that Kate was only wearing a simple button shirt and sweats. "Thought I would treat you," he flirted back to her._

 _She looked him up and down with a seductive twitch in her eye. "Well this treat looks quite good in its packaging. So it must be quite yummy underneath."_

 _Derek moved to step inside. "Then come and have a bite."_

 _Kate quickly closed the door behind him and pulled him into her bedroom. They then slammed their lips into each other as Kate moved to run her hands across his face and hair. Derek wrapped his arms around Kate's hips and pulled her as close as he could to him. Their kisses were hard and sloppy as they banged along the walls as they moved to get each other's clothes off. Derek pulled his suit jacket off and Kate went and ripped his shirt open, sending the buttons flying everywhere before tugging it off making the top part of him bare. She kissed and licked at his chest as he reached down to quickly open the buttons of the shirt she was wearing and pushed it to the sides of her shoulders to reveal that she wasn't wearing a bra underneath. He then threw her onto the bed as he moved to begin to unbuckle his belt and pull his pants down and then took his shoes and socks off before having his pants removed and thrown off to the side. Kate lay on her back to reach to her waist and slowly pull her sweat pants off as Derek's eyes intently followed after her hands as she did so and revealed her dark lace panties underneath. As soon as she tossed her sweats to the side, he moved to join her on the bed and they were on their knees as they started to softly make out. They let themselves feel the contact of their skin as they both had barely any coverings but it quickly started to heat up and they soon became too much to have on. Derek pushed the shirt she was wearing fully off her shoulders and began to kiss at them before he began licking a small trail down to her breasts. Kate pulled at his hair as he worked his tongue on her before she suddenly pushed him away and settled back. She then went and removed the last covering she had left which made Derek stand to the side of the bed to pull off his own and make himself as bare as her. He then leapt over to her and they began to rub, pull, push and thrust at and into each other as they rolled along the bed._

 _After about twenty minutes, they were rolling away from each other and laying on opposite sides of the bed, basking in the aftermath of it all. They were both covered in a sheen of sweat and panting slightly hard, but there were calm and satisfied smiles on them both. Kate was lying flat on her back and giving Derek a good long view of every inch of exposed skin and curve of her body from her hips to her breasts. Kate was letting herself move the tips of her fingers lazily along the length of his back as he laid on his stomach._

 _"You know," she said gently as she turned to be on her side and directly face him. "I swear you get better every time. Is that a secret talent of your kind too?"_

 _Derek laughed. "Maybe," he sighed._

 _She then moved her roaming hand to graze the dimples on his face affectionately. "How was the wedding? You sure that it was okay that you just bailed?"_

 _Derek shrugged as he moved to lay on his back. "No one will miss me. Besides, I'll have all the time to see and hang out with everyone on Sunday night."_

 _"What do you mean?"_

 _"Oh, the full moon. My sister told me that because of the high emotions that everyone's been having lately, this one could be a bit rougher for some of them. Especially Ray. So, the whole pack is coming over to my house to spend the night together."_

 _"Oh, like a full moon pack sleepover?" Kate then moved to cuddle into him. "That sounds kind of cool," she said as she went to give a soft kiss at Derek's chest._

 _Derek just moved to put his hands behind his head as he rested back into them. "Not really. Most of us might end up being chained in the cellar for most of the night. Except for some of the kids and the humans in the group."_

 _Kate narrowed her eyes a bit. "How many exactly?" she asked as she gently rubbed her fingertips down to his stomach._

 _He let his eyes wander as he stared up at the roof. "I don't know. Maybe 11 or 12 altogether. I was hoping I could skip out of my house that night, to try and make Senior Scribe, but with everyone there I can forget that now."_

 _"I'm sorry about that." She then went and began to move her hand lower as she moved her lips to his ear. "But maybe I could do something to help get your mind off all that?" she whispered seductively._

 _Derek found himself grinning as he felt her lightly fondle him and then let out a small growl as he pushed her onto her back and moved to start another round. She eagerly went and dug her nails into his back as he went and thrust inside her. As he buried his face into her neck, he didn't see that there was a malicious look in her eye._

 _Outside the building, Peter Hale was standing there, glaring at the building. He had left the party early himself and tracked his nephew's scent to this place. He let his hearing expand and was able to find his nephew's voice as he heard him moan out a name. Kate._

* * *

AN: Well, I hope you are liking it so far. The character of Riley Astor, Laura's deceased first love. Picture him as Luke Pasqualino. I think you can start to guess how he might be relevant down the line.


	22. Nexus part 2

Chapter 22: Nexus part 2

After Argent's visit, Stiles found that he wasn't much in the mood to focus on his Desert Wolf mystery. He put the pendant he got from him in the drawer where he had the other ones and sighed. He needed a break. Something to clear his mind and help him relax. He let his eyes look out the window and saw that the sun would be setting in over an hour and it was supposed to be a clear sky tonight. Sounded like the perfect night to have a good old fashioned run into the woods. But he didn't feel like running through them alone. His first impulse was to call Scott and ask if he would like to come, but with everything going on between and around them, he thought maybe it might not be a good idea. Stiles knew that with how he was feeling, he would likely shift when he let loose out there and the memories of Scott looking away replayed in the back of his mind. He then thought of Malia but remembered that she and her dad were spending the day together. But there was another person now on his list. Someone who could probably use the run even more than he did. He dialed him up and heard him pick up the phone as answer with 'Stiles?'.

"Hey Liam, uh are you doing anything right now?"

Soon enough, he found himself pulling up to Liam's house and found the kid already ready and waiting outside his front door.

Before Stiles had called him, Liam had just been sitting in his room and trying to distract himself with homework, video games, anything to keep his mind from straying into thought. Because whenever he did, he began reliving when he was nearly burned to death or when he narrowly avoided get sprayed with bullets. The last two days straight were the most terrifying he ever lived in his life. He was so jumpy that he barely slept a wink the previous night as he was too hyper and tense. Mason had texted him to see if they could hang out since they hadn't seen each other since the bonfire. Liam had lied and texted back that he was busy. Liam was getting bummed out that he was lying to his best friend so much but what could he do? He was so worked up and agitated that he might end up hurting him. That was the last thing he wanted to do. Liam was starting to get scared that Mason might just end up ditching him, but, maybe that was for the best. That added to the mountain of things weighing on him. So when Stiles called to see if he would like to go to the woods, he practically jumped at it as his training usually got his mind off things.

"Hey, Stiles," Liam asked after a few minutes of just silently watching the passing things on the road. "You know the lacrosse rematch against Devenford coming up?"

"Yeah," Stiles droned out as he nodded. Of course he knew that.

Their last game against Devenford had ended prematurely, due to that whole mess with Garrett and Violet, and this one would be an actual game rather than a scrimmage.

Liam didn't turn to look directly at Stiles but at car radio. "Do you think it'll be okay for me to play this time?" Before, Scott and Stiles had told him not to play and he ignored them. Then he had gone and sent someone to have to get treated and was benched by Coach. Luckily, that person had been a werewolf and it hadn't truly been his fault. But, it could've been. "Or do you think I'll have to sit this one out? If you and Scott say no, I promise I'll listen."

Stiles tilted his head as he went to stop at a red light. "Really?" he said with a side smirk which clearly said he was doubtful.

"Stiles," Liam said softly.

Stiles looked over and saw the sheepish expression Liam was wearing. The kid was actually serious about this and Stiles sighed. "I don't know," he muttered. "You're still kind of new to all of this." Liam looked like a kicked puppy and Stiles rushed to yank his foot from his mouth as the light turned green and drove them off. "This isn't like the last time," he confidentially said. "Before you were kind of cocky and didn't know any better. Now, you're starting to take it seriously and you've found your anchor too. Maybe now it'll be okay for you to play." But Stiles looked over as he felt that Liam wasn't giving off any feelings of happiness or relief. He was still scared. "Are you worried because the game's the night before the full moon?"

"You do remember my last one, right?" he mumbled.

"With stunning detail," Stiles muttered as he made a turn.

"And how I was before it even happened," added Liam. "I don't want to do any of that again."

"Hey, it was your first one and you had only been a werewolf for a day. Of course it would suck and let me tell you something Liam, everyone's first full moon sucks. You actually got off pretty lucky. Scott and I had a few days on us before our first full moon."

His face fell. "Was it bad?"

"Bad would be an understatement," Stiles snorted as he recalled nearly attacking his dad and Scott getting shot in the woods. "But hopefully, after tonight, you'll feel a little bit better about the full moon coming up."

They made it to the preserve just as it became sunset. They got out of the car and started to step into the woods.

"So," Liam said after a minute of them walking in silence. "What are we going to be doing this time?"

"Yeah, about that." Stiles stopped and so did he. He looked at Liam for a moment and that started to make the kid nervous before Stiles suddenly broke into a run. "See if you can keep up!" he yelled back at him.

"Wait! Stiles!" Liam shouted before he took off after him.

Stiles went and let himself be lost in his run. Let the feel of the cool night air hit his skin and smell the surrounding trees and wildlife. He could hear the sounds of the crickets, nocturnal birds and animals starting to come out as the sky darkened. Sometimes, he would let himself fall onto all fours to give himself a small boost before he leapt up into the air. Every now and then, he looked back to see if Liam was still behind him and saw that the younger wolf was still running after him. He was a good thirty or so yards behind him but started to gain some ground after a bit. Stiles could feel the wolf in him howling to run faster as he enjoyed playing with another wolf. Stiles hadn't had fun like this since last summer. He couldn't contain the high emotions he was feeling and he let his wolf be brought to the surface and shifted to try and gain ground to not make too easy for Liam to keep up. But he could feel that Liam was not only keeping good pace, he was enjoying the thrill of not just trying to keep up but to want to catch him.

Stiles ran them quite deep into the woods until stopping in front of a small creek. He panted with a content smile on his face as Liam got to him and bent over to catch his own breath. When Liam lifted his head, Stiles saw that he had fully shifted too. Liam was staring straight at him and was looking right at him, a little confused.

Liam pointed towards Stiles' face. "Why'd you bring that out?" he said referring to his shift.

Stiles snorted. "I'm not the only one showing," he said pointing at Liam's own shifted face. Liam ran his hand along it and his golden eyes widened. Stiles' own blue eyes narrowed as Liam's surprise flowed through his nostrils. "You didn't shift on purpose, did you?"

Liam shook his head. "I didn't even feel it," he gasped.

He then took in deep breaths and seemed to be trying to focus in turning back but Stiles grabbed his hand. "Whoa, relax. Liam, there's no rush. It's just you and me out here. Let it stay out for a bit." He then looked over to the water. "Come on, let's take a break," Stiles muttered as he settled at the bank of the creek. He took off his shoes and socks and let his feet rest in the water. "I love this spot," he breathed out. He often came here whenever he got the chance. Stiles just got comfortable and was sitting there, still shifted as if it was a completely normal thing to do.

Liam was standing off to the side as his still glowing eyes were wide open. He was watching as Stiles just sat there, lounging by the water's edge in his shifted appearance, as comfortably as if he were lounging on the couch in his home. He then let his eyes roam over to where the near full moon's light was shining down and being reflected on the water's surface. The breeze started to pick up a bit and he found himself breathing it in, a small growl being heard as he did. "I guess it's cool," he muttered.

Stiles looked over. "Liam, it's okay. Just, sit and relax."

Liam's golden yellow eyes met with Stiles' sapphire blue ones and he found himself moving to lower himself down next to him. He sat and moved his legs into him as he sat in like a crutching position as he looked over at the water.

"Stiles?" he asked after a little bit.

"Yeah?" Stiles mumbled as he kept his eyes still out at the distance.

"I was wondering, how is this supposed to help me get ready for the full moon?" he asked a little timidly. "I mean, you said that tonight was supposed to make me feel better. So, I thought, you know, that you were going to train me to have control, like you and Scott did last time." During the full moon, while Liam had been half out of his mind, Scott and Stiles looked so perfectly calm the whole time. Then, at the lacrosse game, they were both playing as though they were normal. "How do you do it?"

Stiles slowly moved his gaze to him. "Someone once told us that an anchor would help keep yourself grounded during the full moon." Stiles left out the part about having an Alpha would also give someone control. He wasn't sure how exactly that situation between Scott and Liam was right now. He continued. "But, I found that focusing on an anchor doesn't always work, especially when something is happening around or to you." Stiles narrowed his eyes a bit in thought. "Then I found something to help me handle the full moon, almost easily. I've tried it out with Malia and it seems it might be working for her. I wonder if it might with you too."

"What is it?" he asked eagerly.

"Liam, how do you feel right now?"

"Huh?" he asked. "What do you mean?"

The older wolf pointed to him with a clawed finger. "I mean, right now, while you're shifted. How are you feeling?"

Liam narrowed his eyes as he silently contemplated it. He finally shrugged. "Uh…I don't know. Normal I guess."

Stiles grinned at him. "Well then, maybe then it could go and work for you too."

"What?"

The next couple of minutes, Liam was told some of the most enlightening and bizarre things he had ever heard. Some of it, Liam understood, while some others he just nodded even though he didn't have the first clue of what it meant. After it was done, Liam just sat there and took in the scenery, letting his posture go a bit looser. He began to let himself lay down flat on his back as he stared at the moon and the night sky. He didn't realize that his face had slowly shifted back to normal as he let himself feel calmer than he had in days.

As Liam silently lounged next to him, Stiles took that time to think for himself, now that he had burned off some of the tension he had built up from today. He calmly began recalling his meeting with Argent and everything the man told him. Stiles didn't know if he actually believed him or not. Argent felt sincere when he told him that he didn't want to have anything happen to him. And there was the fact that he had trusted him with the only tangible reminder of his daughter. However, he knew that Argent was hiding something about the medallions. It was a moment but Stiles saw that his eyes lit up in recognition and he had lied when he said he didn't know who had tried to kill him. And there was the fact that if he really didn't want anything to happen to Stiles, then why did he shoot at him back at the hospital? There were things to point to both putting some faith in the man and to keeping him away as usual. Before, his stance and relationship with Argent was simple and easy for him to understand but in the span of twenty minutes, it had become complicated. Stiles honestly didn't know what to think or do. He needed to talk to someone to help him find some sense in this. He couldn't go to Scott because he would automatically favor the man and he couldn't go to any of their friends because they might just side with him. Stiles couldn't go to his dad, because he hated Argent as much as he did and might not help him sort out his new feelings. He needed someone more neutral, who wouldn't just automatically swing for one way. Maybe Derek? The guy had a history with Argent but he was steadily starting to work with him; that might mean he could be neutral. Stiles couldn't really think of anyone else. He didn't know many other people, especially who understood what he was going through, but he stopped right there. He did know someone else now, thanks to Deadpool, ironically enough.

"Alright um, we should be getting back," Stiles said as he pulled his now wrinkling feet out of the water.

Liam went to brush some dirt stuck at the back of his pants. "What's up?"

"Nothing," Stiles said as he was pulling his socks back before getting his shoes back on. "I just want to pay a little visit to Satomi before it gets too late." Satomi had lived around here for years so she would know about Argent's history, and seemed to be a smart and collected person. She might be able to help him.

"Satomi? Wait, that's Brett's Alpha, right?"

Stiles nodded his head. "Yeah. I need to go talk to her."

"About what?"

Stiles shrugged. "Just stuff. You could come too, if you want. Her pack might be around and I think they would love to meet you."

Liam narrowed his eyes a bit. "Why?"

"Well, you saved them. You're the one that found the key and shut down the Deadpool. That's what got the assassins attacking them to tuck tail and run. Not just them but you helped save our lives too. You were a real hero last night Liam."

Liam ducked his head a bit at that and rubbed at the back of his head to stave off as he tried hard not to blush from the praise. He could pick out the proud tone in Stiles' voice as he called him a hero. Liam let himself drown in that before he re-lived the moments before he shut down the Deadpool, and then he started to stiffen up as there was a sudden twist in his stomach. "Actually, maybe it's not a good idea," he nearly coughed out.

"Why?" Stiles asked surprised.

"Uh well, Brett might be there," he huffed out. "And, he and I...the last time we really saw and spoke to each other was when he made me mad during the last game. I don't want to risk us ruining it for everyone."

"Well, if I see him, I could try talking to him for you," Stiles offered.

Even though Liam was using it for an excuse, he felt defensive. "No. It's okay. You don't need to do that. Brett is my problem. I can handle him," he said a little stubbornly.

Stiles saw that Liam was feeling a little extra strong about this. He guessed that there were still strong past issues to work through when it came to Brett Talbot. Even with all this new stuff thrown into their dynamic, what happened between them wasn't just going to change overnight. Stiles could completely relate. "Fine, well let me go and take you back home."

"Okay," he mumbled back.

They took to head back to the jeep, but this time, Liam found it wasn't as freeing as before.

* * *

 _It was Saturday night and Talia flipping through some of the photos that had been taken at the wedding the day before. Ray and Janice were currently enjoying a small one day getaway before they came back tomorrow for the full moon. After that, they planned to go away for their official honeymoon. She was hoping to finish putting together a little scrap book before they went away. She was so consumed with what she was doing that she didn't hear anyone come up to her room until they knocked as they stood at the open door._

 _She pulled her eyes away and saw her daughter standing there. "Laura, sorry I was distracted. Are you getting ready to head back?"_

 _Laura came in, closed the door and moved to sit at the foot of her mom's bed. "About that, I wanted to talk to you."_

 _"What? Is something wrong?"_

 _Laura quickly shook her head. "No, nothing's wrong. I just had an idea."_

 _"What idea?"_

 _"Well, I was thinking that I could leave tomorrow night instead."_

 _Talia tilted her head a bit at her daughter. "You want to stay in town for the full moon? Honey, it's okay, you don't have to. You know you're okay."_

 _"Yes, I am, but Derek isn't."_

 _Talia narrowed her eyes angrily at that. "Well, Derek is grounded for his little stunt yesterday. Bailing on Ray and Janice like that and didn't even have the decency to say where he had gone. He is under strict house arrest. Derek's going to be spending all day today and tomorrow inside the house and for the next two weeks, he won't be allowed to leave except for school." She then went and let out a heated but tired sigh. "I just don't know what is coming over him lately."_

" _Well, Derek hasn't exactly had the best year mom," Laura said in her brother's defense._

" _Yes I know Laura but Derek can't keep just using that as an excuse to keep acting like this. Going off on his own and pulling stupid and selfish stunts when he should more than know better. He has to understand that what has happened to him doesn't give him a pass on responsibility."_

" _Yeah but now he's not even talking when you're in the same room," she pointed out to her mom._

 _Talia shook her head. "If your brother wants to paint me as the enemy, that's on him. He has to remember that I'm both his mother and his Alpha. I have to look after, guide and protect him but doesn't always mean I'm a shoulder for him to cry on. Sometimes, that means putting my foot down and not be so nice."_

 _"But maybe you don't have to be the enemy for this one mom," Laura softly said which made her mother still a bit. "I was thinking that it might be a good idea to give him a pass to let him leave the house and go to Senior Scribe tomorrow night."_

 _Talia's face widened. "Laura, you know he can't go, even if he wasn't grounded."_

" _Because of the full moon and his lack of control," she cut in. "Yeah, I know. That's why I was thinking that I could go with him and watch him."_

" _Watch him?" Talia repeated._

" _To make sure he doesn't lose it. It will just be for around an hour mom. I'll stay close to him, help him keep the shift in check and if I even get a hint of him slipping in control, I will knock him across the head and drag him back home by the scruff of his shirt if that's what it takes."_

 _That almost made Talia laugh but she sobered up before it even got out. "Laura," she said gently. "What about you? If you do this then by the time you get back, you won't have any time to rest before you have to get to your first class on Monday morning."_

 _Laura shrugged. "So I'll be little drowsy during English. I think it's a small price to pay. I remember how important Senior Scribe was to me. You only get one and Derek should get to start his senior year with it, just like all the rest. And who knows, maybe this way, it could go on and help in him actually start cutting you a little slack."_

" _Even if I said yes, Laura, why would you want to do that?"_

 _She sighed. "Because...I can understand what Derek is going through. In the last year, his first girlfriend died in his arms, he's lost basketball and now he's going to have a hard time come admission time because of his tanked grade point average. It's starting to weigh on him. He's getting more and more detached from everyone. I guess that Derek doesn't believe that anyone is on his side anymore. I was feeling that same way when, Riley was found," she muttered as she looked away from her mother for a moment. "I want him to know that he can still count on us to be there for him."_

 _Her mother sighed with a sad but touched smile on her face. She gave it some real thought for a moment. She trusted Laura and she knew that her oldest was more than reliable. She trusted her and knew that she would do whatever she had to in order to protect the pack and family. "Okay. If you're there, then I guess it'll be alright for him to go tomorrow." Talia moved to give Laura a tight hug. "You are a good daughter, and an even better sister. Derek and I don't deserve you," she said before breaking away. "Laura, you are going to make a wonderful Alpha one day."_

 _"I just hope it's not anytime soon. I'm in no hurry," she said with a lazy shake of her head._

 _"Neither am I. Most that seek the status usually only are willing to only see the benefits and power that being an Alpha holds. It's a demanding position with hardship and sacrifices, not to be taken lightly at all. But, I will admit, it has quite its fair share of privileges to balance it all out, and they're better when you earn and deserve them."_

 _"I hope I will."_

 _"I know you will honey." Talia moved to Laura's forehead and gave it a soft kiss. "Speaking of, there is something I'd like to share with you. It's something I meant to give you when you graduated but I was so caught up in everything that had been happening over the last few months that I'd forgotten."_

 _"What?"_

 _Talia's face became unflinching as she caught her daughter's eye. "Our motto."_

 _Laura narrowed her eyes in confusion. "Uh mom, I already know it." Their mother said it to them all the time._ "We're predators but we don't have to be killers."

 _"That's only half of it. The half that you, your brother and sister need to know because you're still only kids. But you can't stay kids forever and it's a big and hard world out there, and things have gotten pretty tough here too. And when the time comes, I'll be telling Derek and Cora all of it themselves, but, you're no longer a child Laura and its high time you hear it in full."_

 _And she told her._

* * *

As the sun had set on Beacon Hills, a police cruiser pulled into an abandoned lot. From it stepped Jordan Parrish and he looked out at the spot where his life turned upside down. Where he had been burned alive in his squad car by Haigh. The car had been found and towed away and there was now nothing but a great big scorch mark as the only proof of what had happened. It had been less than a week but to Jordan it felt like it was so long since he had believed that his life was somewhat normal. His life was far from normal now, because he wasn't.

When he had been given the chance, he had gone online and tried to look up things that were immune to fire. Lists of things popped up from Efreets, Salamanders, Fire Kitsunes, Phoenixes and Demons. Many of those searches were linked to video games and monster movies. Before, he never really gave such concepts any kind of real thought. Now? Now, it was all he could think about considering it was his life, and he didn't even know what kind of thing he was. He wasn't like the Sheriff's boy and his friends. He was never bitten by anything during a full moon or had even seen anything out of the ordinary before he had even come to this town.

But why did he come to this town? The Sheriff told him that there was something here, a Nemeton he think he called it, that acted as a beacon and drew 'things' here. And Jordan had felt drawn here and despite how crazy all this was, he actually found himself feeling somewhat comfortable with all of it. Does that mean that he had been, something, all along? He didn't understand how this was even possible. No one in his family ever told him about any of this growing up so he couldn't have been born like this, could he? Unless, they never knew. After all, Lydia's family never knew that her grandmother was a banshee like she was.

And at that, a certain red tinged blonde came to mind. He had felt there was something about her from the moment they had first met. From what he could gather, she had been dropped into all of this by a near death experience like he had. But Lydia seemed so confident and comfortable with herself. Will he be that way too? He moved over and bent down to the scorch mark on the pavement. He could almost smell the gasoline again and see the flames surrounding himself as it was ignited. Flames that didn't burn him at all. For a second, a dim orange glow passed over his eyes.

* * *

 _When Derek woke up on Sunday to surprisingly find that not only was Laura staying an extra day, she had helped convince her mother to go to Senior Scribe._

 _"Are you serious?" he asked in disbelief._

 _Talia nodded. "Yes. Laura is going to go with you and help watch over you in case anything happens during the full moon."_

 _"I got to call everyone," he said excitedly._

 _"Derek!" Talia cut in before he could go off anywhere. "Did you forget that you're grounded? Me letting you go tonight doesn't change that which means no phone and no leaving the house today. You're only getting a break for going to your school thing and that's all. Laura's going to give you a ride and stick close to you to make sure that the full moon doesn't trigger your shift while you're there. And you're not going to linger. Laura will be bringing you back to the house before she starts driving back for Berkeley and its not a short drive so you can't take too long. Your sister is giving up the chance to settle back in at school and rest before classes tomorrow for you so I hope you appreciate what she's doing and not take advantage of it. Understand?"_

 _Derek was kind of irked that he had to be 'babysat' but at least now he wasn't going to miss Scribe Night. He nodded. "I do." Derek then moved to head back to his room and threw himself into his bed. He smiled as he looked back at the ceiling. He wished he could at least call Kate and tell her the good news. Well, maybe he could catch her tomorrow morning when school started._

 _The day leading to that night was too slow and suspenseful for him. It dragged on as he desperately waited for it to be time to go and get out of the house. The arrival of the pack and his relatives somewhat made the time go faster._

 _Derek was at the top of the stairs, watching as Talia hugged her cousin Darla and then her husband James. Though Talia's cousin, Darla wasn't a werewolf herself but her husband James was. Talia hugged him tight, for he wasn't just any werewolf, but the very first one she had bitten and turned. Their three kids then filed into the house. The eldest and youngest were both boys, and human. However, their second child, their daughter, was a werewolf like her father and even though she was almost two years older than Cora, but like her, she hadn't come into her shift yet. When Talia motioned for Derek to say hello to his second and third cousins, he quickly muttered a 'Hey' and gave them a mild wave. Laura and Cora were a bit more accommodating. Ray and Janice arrived almost an hour after they had. Then Talia's two other betas, Craig and Stephanie, who worked as a cashier at the bowling alley and as a reporter for the town newspaper respectively. Craig had brought his human little brother with him, and he was excited to be starting at Beacon Hills High as a freshman this coming semester. Derek momentarily entertained him with what to expect when school started and he found that the day sped up slightly._

 _Before he knew it, he was looking out the window at the dark night sky as Laura's Camaro pulled into the school parking lot about a half hour before midnight and they could already make out two dozen seniors scattered around the front entrance._

 _"You feeling okay?" Laura asked him._

 _"I'm fine," he sighed out. "I'm not as helpless as mom likes to think I am."_

 _Laura found a parking spot at the front and pulled the car in for a stop. "She's just trying to look out for you Derek. We all are, you know that right?"_

 _He huffed out a bit through his nose. "Well, if mom stopped treating me like a baby, she could see I can take care of myself. I'm only over a year younger than you and she never acted like that with you."_

 _"Well try not acting like one so much of the time and maybe she might," she lightly suggested. "Look, just keep calm and keep focused while we're here and maybe she'll start bending a little more for you. Okay?" Derek sighed heatedly as he glared in the opposite direction. Laura rolled her eyes. "Okay, go on." She watched her brother open the door and move off to join the crowd of seniors._

 _Derek then stepped out of the car and his eyes fell on two of his former teammates laughing off to the side and he ran over to them._

 _"Derek? I thought you weren't coming tonight?" one of them said as he caught sight of him._

 _"Things changed," he said as he gave him a high five._

 _His other friend looked over at the car Derek just came out of. "Cool, you got a car. A sweet ride at that."_

 _But Derek shook his head. "No, it's my sister's. She's my ride for tonight."_

 _They then watched as Laura stepped out of the driver's seat and moved to lean against the door._

 _"Talk about sweet rides," his first friend said as he ogled Laura. "I didn't think your hot sister would be here too. This night just got better."_

 _"Hey," Derek said with a bit of a growl. Suddenly he saw his friend trying to do things with his sister and he found that he didn't like it, one bit._

 _His friend quickly held his hands up. "Dude, relax. I was just joking," he defended quickly. "Kind of."_

"Derek," _he heard his sister say lightly from where she was with his hyper hearing_. "Calm down. You've barely been here a minute. Settle down bro and ignore him. Your friend is just being stupid. And very delusional," _she added amusingly_.

 _Derek let out a deep breath and started to mentally chant_ 'Alpha, Beta, Omega' _over and over in his head._ _After a few seconds, he was still kind of buzzed but in control. He went and found some more of his classmates and tried to keep himself distracted by hearing out about everyone's summer and what they were looking forward to this year. Laura kept herself off to the side but was still close enough to move in if she had to. So far, it seemed like everything was going fine. Soon enough, it was midnight and it was time to start the Scribe. Everyone calmly filed into the library and headed for the shelves. One by one, they all took a marker and went and inscribed their initials at the flat sides of the shelves. Derek was behind his two friends as they went and put their own initials in. When it got to be Derek's turn, he went to look at all little scribbles all around. He found that he didn't want to be another scribble. He wanted to be noticeable for seniors down the line. He went and put a bigger than necessary D before putting an H just as big next to it. He smiled to himself as he found it to be just perfect. After he was done, he saw that his two friends were talking with some of the others that were already finished and he decided to look for Laura. He quickly found her in the aisle behind him and went over to her._

 _"Hey, I'm done," he said to her._

 _She didn't look up at him though. Her eyes were on the shelf and Derek saw that there were initials all over there too, but she was focused on a LH that was written there. Derek tapped her on the shoulder and she looked over and noticed the marker in his hand. She saw that there was actually some space next to her name as it was surrounded by other initials and got an idea. "Can I have this?" she said yanking the pen from him._

 _"Sure," he shrugged as she already uncapped it._

 _She went and scribbled in a R and an A right next to her own initials. After it happened, Laura found herself closing herself off. She hadn't been on one date for a good bit of her junior year or entire senior year. In the couple of weeks since she left to go to school, she had been asked out by three different guys and she turned them down without batting an eye. Her uncle had gone on and reminded her of why that was. Riley. His death had hurt her. So much that she tried to not think of him. But, seeing how Derek is getting, and the talk with her mother last night, she sees that isn't fair. Not to her and especially to Riley. Riley had left his mark, figuratively and now literally, and would always be with her, but she had to move on. "Goodbye," she muttered as she gazed at their joined initials. She then checked the time and saw it was already 12:45 and cleared her throat. "Alright, did you scribe yourself in yet?" she asked him._

 _He nodded as he pretended to not notice her being a stone throw away from crying a second ago. "Yeah, just did."_

" _Okay, then we better head back. You've been out long enough."_

 _Derek waved bye to his friends before he followed after his sister to her car._

" _Hey Laura," he said before they got in. She stopped to look at him. "Thanks."_

 _She smiled. "Just doing what any older sibling would do. And Derek." His eyebrows rose as he stopped in the middle of opening his door. "Mom's only doing what any mom would do, you know that, right? Do you think you could lay off her a bit? She didn't have to let you come out here tonight, not with how you've been treating everyone. She cut you some slack tonight, try to return the favor, huh?"_

 _Derek's jaw tightened a bit as he pushed down the hard rush of bitter feelings that swelled up in him. "I guess," He sighed out heavily._

 _Laura saw that he was getting riled up again and thought there was a good stopping point. Best to get him back home now. They started to drive back to the house, the windows slightly down to let the summer breeze fan at their faces to help in grounding them, especially Derek and he kept calm._

 _However, that changed when they finally reached their home. Or, what was left of it._

* * *

In the cells of the Sheriff's station, Richard Baxter was sitting with his back to the wall as he lightly tapped his fingers at his knees to pass the time. After the failed hunt at that lake house, he and the men he had brought with him were taken away when Sheriff Stilinski had come to the property with a squad of his deputies as Agent McCall handed them over. Right now, he was alone. Most of the men had to be taken to Beacon Hills Memorial's secure wing to be treated and the others were being questioned right now.

His mind was so lost in the events of the previous day that he didn't notice someone approaching until they stepped over to stand directly in front of his cell.

"Rich, long time no see."

Richard looked up and caught the face of his old trainer and friend, Christopher Argent. "Chris," he gasped as he got up to his feet. He gave the man a good hard look. "It's really you. What are you doing here?" Last he heard, there was an official warrant out for his arrest.

Chris shrugged. "Don't worry Rich, no one saw me. And I heard what happened so I had to see you," he mumbled before he looked over at his friend with narrowed eyes.

"You could've just waited until I was out. It shouldn't be that long after my contact arrives. You know the one."

Chris nodded. He did, since it was his as well. "He's not coming Rich. I contacted him and told him to stay away."

"Chris?" His old friend sounded pissed. "Why the hell would you do that?" he spat out in shock and anger. Chris didn't answer him. He just dug into his pocket and then tossed him something. Richard caught it to see that it was his medallion. "I thought I lost this. Where'd you get it?"

"From the one that took it from you," he answered.

Richard's jaw tightened up. "Stilinski." He then gripped it hard.

"What were you thinking Rich?" hissed Chris.

Richard blinked. "What are you talking about?"

"Don't play dumb," he said sternly at him. "Like I said, I heard about what happened. The assault you led at that lake house. Against three kids and one's human father. And I know that you're connected to that attack at my depot because I was there when your partners stormed in like it was a shooting gallery."

Richard gaze turned into a glare. "So, the rumors were true. You know, I didn't believe them. I refused to believe them and even defended you. Fellow hunters laughed and mocked you. Said that you went and made yourself the guard dog to a bunch of young mutts but I stood up for you to all of them. I knew that there was no way that Chris Argent would ever go and actually defend vicious creatures instead of putting them down. Shows what I know," he spat out.

"Which has never been a lot Rich," Chris said back. "How you've fallen from what you actually were. A man who was brought into a well-respected family and given a honored title of a hunter. Now, you're just a common low-down mercenary."

"Don't patronize me Chris," Richard spat as he pointed harshly at him. "You're not my superior anymore. You gave that up when you sent us all away after that whole thing with your father. Seems its your family that's fallen and not me." His glare softened into a smirk. "Which brings us to why you're really back here in this crap of a town. Or rather who you're here for."

Chris stiffened up. "I came here to stop her."

"Then why didn't you take care of her when she was at the hospital two weeks ago?" Chris' jaw tightened at that. "Yeah, I know about that. What happened Chris? You off your game? Because that's the only way that Kate could've gotten away from you that night unless you chose to let her go." Chris' nostrils flared but Richard held his hands up. "Hey, I understand. She's your sister. Your family. I can see why you would look the other way. It's not exactly the first time you've done that for Kate. We all did that, over seven years ago. That doesn't mean it was wrong."

"It was," Chris quickly bit out. "That was…wrong. Just as it was wrong of you to attack those kids and try to kill Stilinski last night."

Richard then moved to put his face at the bars as he looked at him and he lowered his voice a bit. "Don't give me that. You sure didn't say that back then. And you sure didn't say that when you went to bring Stilinski in for some of 'special' attention. What changed Chris? Your daughter?"

Chris pointed his finger at him. "Don't Rich," he hissed in warning.

But he didn't stop. "Because she decided to live some romantic fantasy with some mongrel. Is that why you're doing this? Why you're even trying to scold me about Stilinski, because your girl had decided to throw herself to that wolf Scott McCall?"

"Shut up Rich," Chris said as he went closer to him. "I'm warning you."

"I'm trying to be your friend Chris. And as your friend, I should've been there for you. Seven years ago, we failed to get that woman away from that beta before she married him but I know that we could've saved Allison. And while you couldn't save her, we can damn well avenge her. You want to leave her precious loverboy alive, fine. But that shouldn't extend to that damn friend of his. It's him that took her away from you. It must hurt that you have to stomach him being alive but but you have to hold back on some foolish debt you have for McCall. If you can't handle it fine, but I can. Let me do this for you, not just as your friend, but your brother. You looked the other way for your sister. You can do that now, for me. For you. For Allison."

Chris' gaze dropped down for a moment as he took a deep breath. "You know, you're right Rich. We are friends." Richard smiled as it looked like Chris would help him after all. He then looked up at him. "And I did teach you everything you know about being a hunter. You were just like the little brother I never had." His eyes fell into a glare. "But you violated the code, which I taught you as well. I wouldn't be a good friend, brother or hunter if I let you get away with it."

"Chris," Richard growled.

But Chris reached through the bars and pushed his friend away. "It's the law and you've dishonored it, the heritage and yourself. You now have to answer for it Rich." Chris then started to leave.

Richard ran to grip the cells so tightly that his knuckles went white. "Hold it Chris," Richard grumbled, making him freeze before he could leave but he didn't turn back. "Don't think that by pulling some high and mighty act that you are somehow better than me. You're not fooling me…or are you trying to fool yourself? After all, don't forget that you're the one who always threw the first stone whenever we found a so-called innocent. You taught me the code, yes, but you also taught me about 'innocents' too. What was it again?" Chris didn't say anything. "Say it Chris," Richard puffed out.

Chris was silent for a moment before he let a heated breath out through his nose. "They're only innocent until they're not. Better to make them not sooner rather than later, for everyone's and especially their own good."

"And you did more good for them than any of us. You always made the first shot and made sure we followed your lead. With stray and isolated werewolves we found, or other creatures like that Avian we helped Gerard put down around here a while back. Yet you stand there and say that I dishonored the heritage and have to answer for it? That's the pot calling the kettle black. Wouldn't you say?"

Chris didn't know how long he stood there, staring at nothing before finally turning to look back at Richard. "I say that I already have started to answer for it." He then turned to look away from him. "And will keep answering for it, for the rest of my life." He then left without another word.

* * *

 _At around 11 o'clock, Laura and Derek had started to move out the front door. Talia moved to hug Laura goodbye and wished her to be safe and watchful and she assured her that she would be. She then stood to look at Derek and waited for what he would do. He mumbled a barely audible 'Whatever' to her before he hurriedly threw himself out the door. Laura threw her a soft smile before she followed after him. Talia then stood outside the door to watch them and gave them one last wave before the car started up and they drove off. Talia sighed to herself as she made her way back into the house. She moved to start making some Reshi tea both to calm her nerves and settle anyone else's that might need it tonight. She decided to have some right now but, before she could take her first sip, she heard shouting coming from upstairs. She put her mug down and made her way upstairs. She caught sight of Cora running into her room as Darla's youngest son was laughing as he was being chased by her._

" _Give it back!" Cora cried after him._

 _Talia couldn't make out what was in the boy's hand but he went and threw it out Cora's window. Cora cried out before she stuck her head out and looked like she was going to fly out to go after it._

" _Cora!" Talia ran over and pulled her back inside before closing the window. "What is the matter with you?!"_

 _Cora pointed to her third cousin. "He took the bouquet I caught and was trying to mess it up."_

 _But her cousin pointed back at her. "She wouldn't let me watch the movie with her."_

 _Talia noticed the open laptop on Cora's bed that was paused._

" _I didn't let him watch because it's a horror movie. It's too scary for him." Cora was glaring at her cousin. "Then he went and grabbed the bouquet I caught at the wedding and started pulling it apart."_

 _Talia looked out and saw no sign of it on the ground. She guessed it flew off and went into the trees. "That's not worth jumping out of the window for," Talia scolded her._

" _Mom, can I go get it?" Cora asked disregarding her words._

" _No," she told her. "You're grounded for the rest of the night for trying to do something so stupid."_

" _But mom," she started._

" _I said no Cora," Talia cut in. "Don't worry. It won't be going anywhere. You can get it in the morning."_

" _Talia," she heard her brother call after her and she moved back downstairs. "Can I see you for a minute?"_

 _She huffed before she looked over her shoulder. "Alright, I'll be right down!" she cried out to him. She then turned to her daughter. "I want you to stay in your room for the rest of the night. You can stay up for another half hour but then I want you to get some sleep. No more trouble, okay?"_

 _Cora nodded before her mom took their little cousin out of the room and closed the door behind her. Cora continued her movie but wasn't watching it like before. She let herself move over to her window. She didn't want to wait until morning. She liked having that bouquet with her ever since she caught it. Cora went and unpaused the movie before turning the volume up high. She then opened the window and moved to grab the nearby gutter pipe at the side of it. Her mother didn't know that she had already learned how to slide down it like a pole. She stopped about seven feet from the ground before she let go and landed on her feet. She then moved to start looking into the brush. She was so into looking for it that she didn't notice the people approaching the house._

 _Talia told the little boy to stay in his guest room and get to bed as he was already supposed to sleeping and if he didn't then she would tell his parents. He ran off and she started going downstairs and walked about until she found her brother in the living room. He was sitting in one of the armchairs, tapping absently on the arms with his fingers as he waited. "Peter? What is it?"_

" _I need to talk to you." He gestured to the armchair in front of him. "You may want to sit down for this."_

 _She moved over to him but didn't sit down. "What is it Peter?" she asked sounding a bit annoyed as she was feeling irritated enough by the full moon and Derek's leaving attitude. "I have to go back to the cellar and check on everyone."_

" _Yeah, but you're going to want to hear this. Well, actually you won't 'want' to but it's something you should know. It's about Derek."_

 _Talia moved to sit down. "What about Derek?"_

" _I found what he's been up to. And why's he's been so secretive and aloof this whole summer."_

 _Talia could see that Peter actually looked and sounded serious. The most serious that she could remember him being in the longest time. "What?"_

" _He's been sneaking off to see someone. A woman. From the look of it, this has been going on for a while."_

" _Derek has a new girlfriend?"_

 _Peter shook his head. "No, not a girl. A woman," he stressed. "And they seem to be getting to know each other very well."_

 _Talia's face widened. "How do you know?"_

" _The wedding. I noticed that Derek had taken off and I snuck off to track him down. I managed to follow his scent and tracked him down to an apartment building. He went to be with a woman named Kate."_

" _Kate?" she gasped. Talia knew a Kate. "Did you find out her last name?"_

 _He nodded. "I did some digging. It's Argent. Kate Argent. Chris Argent's younger sister and Gerard's daughter." He paused for a moment to let those facts sink into his sister before he gladly continued. "Turns out that she had been serving as a T.A. at the high school and had started during the close of spring and has been there all summer. I'm guessing that's how Derek first met her. And, I bet that's how the Argent knew of the wedding, even though we've been trying to keep a low profile. His sister had seduced it out of Derek for him."_

 _Talia was livid. The Argents had taken to taking advantage of children now? Derek had been heartbroken and vulnerable after losing Paige and they had gone on to pimp one of their own to seduce him for information?! And Chris had made a point to menace Janice about getting married to a werewolf when his sister was banging her underage son for intel!? She got to her feet, grabbed the armchair she was sitting on and flung it across the room where it made a large dent in the wall on impact._

 _It was so strong and sudden that even Peter was thrown back in shock. He could see that Derek would be getting quite an earful when he got back home. Not only that, but it looked like Talia was finally done playing nice. He'd been waiting for the right time to spring this on after he'd learned about it. He decided that, here, right now, during the full moon when Derek was out of the house with his sister would be the best time to have the maximum effect. Talia would have time to build her fury in anticipation for Derek coming back while he could stem the fire. But, it looks like he wouldn't have to work as hard as he thought. It seemed that Talia was finally through with taking the hunters' presence with stride. It looked like there would be some real hell to pay and that was all fine with him. There was then a hard howl heard from down below. Peter recognized it as Ray's. He guessed the rest of the pack had been listening in. That only made it better. It looked like everyone would be clued in soon enough and not likely to be so hesitant to try and do things his way, including his sister._

" _Go and make sure that Ray is okay," Talia told him in a low and authoritarian tone of voice._

 _Peter quickly got up from his chair. "I'm on it." He then moved to get back to the cellar._

 _Talia then went and sighed to herself. She couldn't believe that this was actually happening. But, she knew this finally explained everything about what had been going on with her son. The first chance she got she would seek the Argents and let them know that they finally got the war they wanted, and she would give them one to remember, if what was left of them had the ability to remember anything. She couldn't help but think it poetic that after she shared their full code with her daughter that she would now call to enforce it on behalf of her son the day right after._

 _But she narrowed her eyes when she went and picked up the smell of gasoline. She took a deep sniff of the air and found that that she couldn't pick up the direction that it was coming from. It seemed to be all around. She went to the kitchen, hoping it was a minor leak from a pipe but found that the smell wasn't coming from there. She looked out the window to suddenly jump back when she saw giant flames bursting up out of nowhere. Talia moved to the back door to try and get to the fire but found that it was repelling her. As if there was some kind of invisible wall keeping her from passing. She only knew of one thing that could do this. Mountain Ash. Talia gasped as she realized that someone had sealed them all in the house. She then backed away when smoke started to spill in from the other side and the door burst into flames. She had to get one of the others to break this barrier, and fast, before the whole house went up. Talia heard the screams from the pack below and quickly moved to head for the cellar but there was a crash from a window and a Molotov flew in and impacted just in front of the door, blocking her with a wall of fire. She tried to move to the front door but it repelled her just the same and she could see smoke and flames from the windows on this side of the house. It wasn't just mountain ash that was surrounding them, it was fire as well. There were trapped. Talia's eyes flew to the staircase and remembered that Cora and a few of the kids were upstairs. She got to the second floor landing when hard screaming started getting closer. She looked and saw James and Darla's eldest son thrashing about as his arm was caught on fire. He was thrashing too wildly to see where he was going and Talia tried calling for him but he was too blinded from the pain that he couldn't stop thrashing and ran right through the overhead banister, crashing through it and falling face first to the ground. Talia let out a horrified cry as she heard the sickening thud and could see the motionless body of the boy that was now burning and leaking blood. Talia wailed out as the flames started to spread around her before she heard cracking sounds and screaming coming through the closed door of Cora's room. Her red eyes flashed as she moved and tackled the door in, breaking it down._

" _Cora!" she cried out before letting off a cough from inhaling smoke. But her eyes widened as there was no sign of her daughter anywhere in the room. The noise in her room was all coming from the horror movie still playing on the laptop on her bed. Talia then saw that her window was opened again. She moved to stick her head out slightly and found she could only barely stick half her head outside. The mountain ash that had been spread was keeping her from moving any farther. "Cora!" she screamed again._

" _Mom!"_

 _Talia's eyes widened when she saw her daughter outside. She was just in the tree line and she could make out a bouquet in her arms. She realized that Cora must've climbed out her window to fetch it. Any other time, Talia would be mad but right now she was ever so grateful that her daughter disobeyed her. Cora was crying as she stared up at her and Talia's clawed hands gripped into the wall tightly._

" _Cora, run!" she shouted._

 _But that was all she could let out before the ceiling above her collapsed and blocked her from the windows view. Cora cried out in horror and she ran into the trees. Talia found everything was fading as the weight of the burning rubble on her took its toll and her last conscious thought was that at least all three of her children were still safe._

 _Peter had headed down to the basement cellar to find that Ray was viscously tugging on the chains restraining him. He was fully shifted and he was growling through his fanged teeth. No doubt he had eavesdropped and heard what was said upstairs. As he saw him, Peter knew he didn't want to be the Argents or Derek right about now. Janice was in front of him, whispering words of comfort but he was still fighting against the chains. Peter went and pushed him hard against the wall where the back of his head slammed against it._

" _Peter!" Janice cried at him._

" _Relax," Peter mumbled nonchalantly at him. "Look, he's fine." He pointed over at him and they saw that Ray was breathing a little more calmly than before and his expression was a bit settled though there was still great anger in his eyes._

 _Peter looked over to Talia's other betas to see that Stephanie was actually sleeping while Craig's eyes were glowing somewhat but his little brother was sitting next to him, holding his hand as they were talking about something meaningless. They both seemed to be withstanding the moon just fine._

 _But Craig's head snapped up. "Hey, does anyone else smell that?" he asked as he sniffed the air._

" _Smell what?" asked his brother._

 _Peter took a hard whiff of the air himself. "Yeah, that smells like…gasoline."_

 _All of a sudden, there was a great big fire seen right outside one of the cellars windows. Quickly, everything went crazy. Janice and Craig's brother moved to unshackle the chains from the betas while Peter moved to run out of the cellar. However, before he could make it to the door, he heard the sound of glass breaking right before a fire leaked out from under it. The sudden flames made Peter fall back in surprise, tumbling backwards down the stairs. He had hit his head and was barely able to make out the sounds of shouting and moving people around him. When he healed enough to get back his focus, he sat up to find that the flames were surrounding them. He looked over and saw that everyone was shouting and crowding around the window, pushing at the bars to try and get out. Peter despaired as he knew that wouldn't work. This place had been built with the purpose to make sure that their kind didn't get out especially on a full moon. It was supposed to be for safety but Peter couldn't help but find the irony that it was what was going to be their undoing._

 _But then, he remembered that there was an escape route built in case of emergencies. He moved over and saw that the switch to open it was covered in some rubble. He went and quickly through the rubble over and found the switch. He hit it and there was an audible click where the wall next to him flew back to reveal a small door._

" _Everyone!" he cried out._

 _Just as they all turned to look at him, there was a loud bang and an overhead pipe burst. It was a gas pipe and it ignited with the surrounding flames and the last thing any of them saw was a bright flash. The explosion caught them all but Peter had been standing by the exit when the force and flames pushed him into the somewhat reinforced passage, with the flames dancing on his skin. As he lay there, burning, he couldn't help but think that this couldn't be a coincidence. He knew who was responsible for this. His sister, though now ready to act, was too late. The hunters had made their first strike, and they had made it so they couldn't strike back. But he would. He swore he would, with everything he could as he tried to endure the pain of the flames._

 _At around 11:30, a handful of people were starting to make their way to the house. Canisters of gasoline in their hands. The one at the forefront, was Kate Argent. She smiled as she looked at the building. The Hale House, she was a beautiful sight under the light from the full moon. There were no street lights or any man-made structures around it save for some transformers that provided electricity. It was a great home within nature. As Kate and her cohorts walked up to it, she thought it was ironic given that the ones inside were the opposite of natural._

 _When Kate had learned from Derek about this gathering, she wasted no time after he decided to head off. She was about to tell Chris the news but he had called her and told them that they had to lie low due to some trouble with the police as they had spotted their man Richard sneaking around the wedding. The local police would be on the lookout for him and their vans. Kate then decided that she had to take this into her own hands. She wouldn't be the one to disappoint their father again. There would never be a better opportunity than this, especially considering that everyone, including a now grounded Derek, would be all in one place, out of the way of witnesses. But Kate knew she had to find a way to make this look like an accident so had decided to offer the school's Chemistry teacher, Adrian Harris, a chance to hang out together at the local bar. One look at her and he had quickly taken the offer, no doubt hoping he might get lucky. Kate had noticed a while ago that the man was more depressed and gullible than many of the teenagers that he seemed to despise teaching. After a few drinks, and playing as if he was the most interesting man in the world, he was wrapped around her finger and told her of ways that this plan could work. Afterwards, she found some local low rent thugs and went to them with an offer of a job. She paid them well to do the job, and to not ask questions._

" _Wait here until I give you the signal," she ordered at them._

 _She then grabbed her own separate canister that wasn't filled with gasoline, but mountain ash. She knew that there was a strong chance that they would pick up the smell of the gasoline as soon as it left those cans. She had to seal the place up first. She got to the front door and went to pour a line in front of it. She then moved to spread it along the perimeter of the house and got back to where she started. As soon as she was done, she went and called for the others to come on over and get started. They began to pour the gas at all the places where Kate had told them to, that she learned from Harris, and then went to ignite it when they were done. One of them even went and made a Molotov cocktail and threw into the nearest window which quickly made a wall of flames to block the inside from its view. They all quickly ran for it but not Kate. She moved to linger back and watch as the house started to get encased in flames. Kate thought that the flames actually made the house look even more beautiful than it was before. She started to hear scared and the pain induced screams from the humans mixed with hard growls of the wolves as they all burned inside. Kate closed her eyes and threw her head back as the sounds felt as soothing as a symphony to her. They were all suffering and burning, like the animals they all were. As for the humans in there, she admitted that it was sad for them, but they brought it on themselves to associate with mutts like them. They kept growing louder and louder, until they stopped, one by one. Finally, tonight, she accomplished what her father and brother couldn't in over a year. She finally got rid of the Beacon Hills pack. It wasn't long before the sounds of firetruck horns and police sirens were heard closing in. She went and slipped away as the firemen started to get to work trying to douse the flames. So she wasn't around to see the Camaro pull in and the two very alive young wolves step out and look at the burning house with tears and anguish in their cries as they were held back by some police. They could only watch as the firefighters moved to put out the fire and go into the house to try and find any survivors. They broke in through the windows, unknowingly breaking the mountain ash line, but found no one alive save for Derek and Laura's burnt and half dead uncle Peter._

 _And none of them knew about the little girl in the woods. Cora kept running, just like her mother cried out to her and didn't stop running. She finally stopped when she just ran out of breath. She didn't know how far she had run but she could looked back to see some smoke visible in the sky behind her. Her eyes were sparkling from the tears that were falling down her cheeks but, slowly, a faint golden like glow began to shine on through._

 _Off to the side, there were another set of eyes watching her, from a coyote. It was curious why this person seemed to smell like they were a wolf. It kept watching this girl before she decided to run off. The coyote looked at the direction she ran from and smelled the faint tint of smoke and something burning. It found that it didn't like the smell and decided that it would be best to head back to its den._

* * *

Kate was off in her secluded space in the sewer system as her Berserkers were nearby, on guard. Though she didn't have to worry about being pursued by assassins anymore, she was still being hunted. She knew that both her brother, along with the Calaveras were still looking for her. Then there was Derek Hale and all of his teenage friends. They had been distracted by the Deadpool but now would be free to focus and be on the lookout for her so she had to remain in hiding for a bit longer. However, she still was keeping an eye on the situation. She managed to learn that her old friend Richard Baxter had been arrested. It turned out that he, and some mercenaries he hooked up with, had been captured at a botched holdup in a lake house, or that was the official story. Kate knew that he had been trying to hunt down the shifters that were there, specifically Stiles Stilinski.

Kate grit her teeth at the thought of him. Stiles, whose name wasn't even Stiles but was called that because his real name was too hard to even pronounce. That was only half as annoying as the kid himself. It was thanks to him that her name was now in the dumps. He had gone on and completely humiliated her, post-mortem. She might not really be dead but she was still pissed at the thought. He had spun the story of her burning the Hale House and seducing the young Derek Hale all for the purpose of trying to be some kind of trampy henchwoman. Not to mention that he pinned the other murders on her and claimed she had done it because she was greedy. She had done everything in doing her sworn duty as both a hunter and an Argent. But some kid went and had made her to be no better than those fool assassins that had flocked here for the Deadpool. Her name had been smeared forever and she would make him suffer and pay for that. And especially for the death of Allison.

Not just Stiles, but on Scott as well. Him and his adorable puppy dog look and beady brown eyes had ruined her niece. Allison had so much potential. She had reminded Kate of herself. A strong and unflinching hunter that could've gone on and replaced Gerard as the head of the family in only a few years and that mongrel came and turned her into a helpless, lovestruck schoolgirl. He was as much to blame for her death as his savage friend. Thanks to their so-called love, Allison became cannon fodder and her father, Kate's brother, was now a shell of the man he used to be to even avenge her.

But she will. She will take her revenge on both Stiles Stilinski and Scott McCall. And if all went according to Peter's plan, she would have it soon.

* * *

 _Noah Stilinski was sitting at his desk with Laura Hale sitting directly in front of him. The girl was staring off while he filled out his report. He could see that the girl was hiding something from him. Something about all of this didn't add up to him. The insurance investigator, Garrison Meyers, he had sent him his report and his analysis reported that it was arson. Just a random destructive act, but Noah wasn't buying that. Around a week before the fire, he gets a report about a public harassment before one of the woman, Laura's mother Talia, comes to him and requests for some a police presence during the other woman's wedding. Then they nearly catch someone sneaking around before he gets away with help. Then, a few days later, the two just happen to be in the same house that is caught ablaze. This couldn't just be a random act of arson gone wrong. One is an accident, two is a coincidence, but three is a pattern. Something was telling him that someone had wanted to deliberately harm, and even kill these people. And he had a feeling that Laura, and her brother Derek, might just know who these people are. But they either weren't saying anything or deflecting. He guessed they might be scared. He didn't blame them. They were only just kids. If someone had done this to their friends and family then they would be scared, but it meant that whoever did this would be getting away with it._

" _Can I be excused for a moment Sheriff?" Laura asked suddenly. "I…just need to use the bathroom real quick."_

 _Noah's gaze softened and he nodded. "Of course," he said with full understanding._

 _Laura nodded in appreciation before getting up and heading into the woman's bathroom. Once there, she quickly went to grip the sink with both hands as she breathed heavily over it. She then went and splashed some water on her as she took slow and deeper breaths. Slowly, she lifted her head up and looked into the mirror to find that her eyes were glowing but they weren't her usual beta gold. They were red, bright Alpha red. She noticed it the morning right after the fire. Now that her mother…died, the power and status moved down to her second, herself. She had showed Derek and it made him cry as it seemed to make everything 'official'. Their Alpha, their mother was gone._

 _The stress was starting to get to her. Derek had completely shut himself off which left Laura to have to handle everything herself. She had to settle all the arrangements in the hospital for their uncle, the only survivor of the fire, if he could even be called that. His body was badly burned as was half his face. He suffered both external and internal damage in the fire and it was so severe that if it weren't for his healing, he wouldn't even be alive. But Peter had been rendered comatose and no one knew when he would ever wake up, if he ever did. Their kind hardly went into states like this and she had heard stories of it not being pleasant. Some part of her thought it might've been more merciful if he had just died. Then there was the fact that she had to answer the Sheriff's questions about how the fire could've started. The Sheriff also was asking about the trouble at Ray and Janice's wedding and the harassment incident. Laura was genuinely surprised at how close the man came to finding a connection but could sense the high concern and sense of duty he was giving off as he tried to gather the facts. She saw that the man didn't believe that this was just a freak tragic accident but couldn't necessarily tell him that this fire was the work of hunters who had wanted to kill them for the longest time and seemed to have finally acted and succeeded. Laura had seen the traces of mountain ash around the house and knew that was why everyone couldn't escape the house. Only hunters could've done that but she couldn't have the police get more involved so she just answered his questions with vague facts or simply that she had no idea._

 _But the stress was starting to catch up with her. Laura found that keeping her control was harder than it was before but she pushed through and then watched as the red tinge began to dim from her eyes until they were back to normal. She then left the bathroom and headed back into the office area but stopped short. She found that the Sheriff was off at one of the desks, speaking to a little boy. Not just any little boy, but one of the ones she had met with Cora a few weeks before she left for school. The ones that she thought would be great to turn and have in her pack one day. Stiles, his name was. That wasn't one she would forget any time soon, well one anyone could really forget._

 _This was a real coincidence. A few days ago, back at the hospital after she had visited her uncle, she had moved to leave when she had seen the other boy from that day sitting in the waiting area, Scott. She felt that he was having a bit of mild frustration and had gone over to speak with him and found that he was there doing his homework. She started to talk to him and learned that his last name was McCall and he was there working on his homework while he waited for his mom to finish her shift. She was one of the hospital's rookie nurses who had the afternoon shift. He had seemed a little bored with working and quickly asked what she was doing in the hospital. When she told him that her uncle was seriously hurt, his big brown eyes lit up and he said that he hoped his mom could help him for her. She felt his genuine concern and empathy for her and her family and she thanked him for his concern. He had pointed his mom out to him and Laura could sense that she seemed to be a gentle and affectionate woman. She could understand how Scott had gotten that compassionate and tender demeanor that caught her eye that day. She then went and started to help him with some of his homework for about a half hour before she left. Her mood had gone up slightly after all that._

 _Now, she had run into the other one. Laura went over and the Sheriff looked up at her._

" _Oh, Ms. Hale, I'm sorry but I was just checking on my boy."_

" _It's no problem." She then looked over at Stiles who was staring wide eyed at her. "This is your son?" she asked with somewhat wide eyes. She had to admit, she hadn't seen that coming. Though this explained where the boy got that brave and protective attitude she had been taken with that time in the park._

" _Yes. I'm afraid he has to stay here while I work my double shift today," he said as he rubbed at his son's shoulder._

 _But Stiles shook his head. "It's okay dad. I know that you have to work and find out what really happened," he said gently to him. That made his father gave him a small smile back._

" _Sheriff?" one of the deputies called out to him._

 _Noah turned back to Laura. "Excuse me, this should only take a few minutes."_

" _Of course," Laura said to him before he took off. She then looked down to the boy to see that he was drawing a picture with colored pencils. She looked down to see that it was some kind of ship with a giant sail and it looked like it was over a giant wave. Laura thought that it was pretty good art for a nine year old. "Hey, that's a nice ship there," she said to him._

 _He smiled bashfully at her. "It's the S.S. Mischief. The strongest ship ever."_

 _Laura let a small grin loose at him. "Sounds like a fun name to give to strong ship."_

 _Stiles ducked his head a bit. Fun name for something strong. His mom had said the same thing to him once. When he had called himself Mischief because he couldn't say his name right. When his mom started getting sick, he knew that she liked boats so he drew them for her and kept calling them the Mischief. She added the S.S. part because they were his initials and should stand for 'Strong Ship' because his own penchant for mischief was as strong as him. Even after all these months, he still liked drawing ships._

 _Stiles narrowed his eyes then. "My dad called you Hale? You're Cora's sister, right?" he asked. His face then softened. "I'm sorry. She was supposed to be in my class this year."_

 _Laura's face fell a bit. "She was?"_

" _Our teacher called out her name for attendance the first day of school," he explained. Stiles then saw that Laura's eyes were getting a bit shiny as she moved to look away from him. He then looked down at the picture he was drawing and he tore the paper out of his book. "Here," he said lightly as he then handed it out to her._

 _Laura looked over and gave him a small smile. "Thank you," she said as she took it. "My brother and I appreciate it."_

 _She then looked over to where he was sitting and Stiles moved his gaze to the teenager quietly sitting at the bench._

 _Derek was sitting down at that bench, staring out at the folded hands in front of him, not hearing or even noticing that he was being looked at. It had been a week since the fire but Derek could still hardly believe it. His sister was there to take care of more of the paper work and questions that the Sheriff had for them. Derek had hardly said anything since that night. When he and his sister were held back from running into the house, his nose stiffened when he had found a familiar scent: Kate's. He would know her scent anywhere. It was fresh, and he found that it was mixed in with the smell of gasoline. He then remembered that he had told her about this full moon and how everyone would be at his house when he met with her after ditching the wedding. He didn't want to believe it but the more he thought about it, the more sense everything seemed to make. He had to know the truth and, two days ago, when he had some time separated from Laura, he snuck off and had stormed over to her apartment. He knocked for over a minute before he lost patience and broke down the door. Inside, he found the place had been emptied of nearly everything, as if Kate had left in a hurry. He went to the building's supervisor and found that Kate had filed to leave the building the day after the fire. Derek was then forced to accept that as concrete proof. Kate was truly a hunter as the rest of her family and had been working to kill them all along, and he had helped her do it._

* * *

Chris Argent sat in the corner of a motel room, sipping hard on a bottle of beer in the low light. His mind was on both his meeting back with Stiles and his reunion with Richard. They both got him thinking, and forced him to take a real honest look at himself and everything that has happened in the last few years. He remembered what he told Stiles when he saw the board setup in his room, about the Nexus. The point where everything that was laid out came back to. From Stiles' point of view, he felt that everything that had happened in the last two years to this town stemmed from when he, his family and their hunters had first come to Beacon Hills. But Chris felt that the boy was wrong. That wasn't the Nexus point to all this. Thanks to Richard, he now knew where everything truly started

It was with him. When he made the choice to be apathetic and blind. To his father and his agendas, his wife and her mindset, and to the dealings of his sister. He remembered the night when news came to them about the fire at the Hale House. Back then, Chris had been suspicious of both the timing and the circumstances. Not to mention that his sister couldn't be reached until the morning after and her sudden and surprising support to his suggestion they go and make themselves scarce afterwards. He recalled how he had suddenly started wondering how Kate got the intel on the Hales to give them such as the wedding, where it was, and the movements of the Hale children like where and when Laura Hale was going off to school. He, and his closest friends like Richard, had guessed what Kate had been up to, but chose to do nothing. The night of the Winter Formal, back at the hospital, Stiles had been right about him. He knew exactly what his sister had done but had played ignorant because it had gotten rid of Talia Hale and most of her pack. Werewolves but innocents that didn't deserve what had happened any more than the humans in that fire did, like that woman he tried to menace before her wedding.

Then there was his father. Chris knew that Gerard wasn't the peaceful type or that he had very little to no empathy for others yet he came back to them with an accounting of Deucalion attacking and killing his hunters and almost killing him when he went to try and have peace. He had suspicions of his intentions and actions but had chosen to do nothing because it gave them the mandate to finally go after their packs. Just as he believed it when he told them that Stiles had gone to finish the job on the hunters he had disabled because he was angry at the boy as well as with Derek and his pack. And because of Chris' chosen ignorance, the Alpha Pack as well as the Darach were created and his daughter nearly became a cold blooded killer and was almost killed by her own grandfather.

And his wife…deep down, he knew what she was capable of. The night they attacked the high school principal was her idea. And he knew how she felt about young werewolves, especially about Scott but he chose to turn a blind eye to his wife on all of that. That came back to hurt him and his daughter in the worst way.

He couldn't be apathetic and blind anymore. Not to his family, or to his fellow hunters. The code had been dishonored enough. That was why he was here now. And he didn't appear to have to wait any longer as he heard the sound of footsteps approaching and stopping at the door. The sound of the motel room cardkey going through the reader was heard and there was a faint buzz before the door unlocked. It opened and in walked Agent Rafael McCall. He stepped in two steps before he froze when his eyes fell upon Chris Argent.

"Agent McCall," Chris said calmly to him. "We need to talk."

* * *

 _Laura was exiting the Animal Clinic with a somber look on her face. She had gone to speak with Deaton, her mother's emissary. She gave him all the new contact information she had to keep her informed if anything significant happened in Beacon Hills or to her uncle while she and her brother were gone. Deaton promised that if anything happened then he would inform her immediately. Laura told him that she would come back here when she felt she was fully ready to assume her role as Alpha but that it wasn't the right time yet. She felt she needed some time to adjust to the changes in her life. That included now being an Alpha werewolf, as well as being her brother's legal guardian until he became 18 in a few months just to name two. She was taking time off from school to give her the space and time to deal with all of it. Then she would go back. She didn't want to be an Alpha that was expected to take care of this town when she was barely ready to take care of herself, let alone her brother and a pack. Deaton was supportive of her decisions and told her that she was showing a good level of maturity in admitting that she had much to learn and wasn't jumping into her new role when she felt she wasn't ready. Before she left, Laura had made a final request and asked him to also keep a sharp eye out on the two boys Scott McCall and Stiles Stilinski. When she told him they were local children, Deaton was curious why he was to be mindful of two normal nine year old boys but she said that it was private. He told her that he would keep watch over them for her while she was away. She didn't know that Deaton was already closely guessing why she cared about two seemingly random human boys. Laura got to her car, which was already packed with some of the things they were able to salvage from the house. It was time to leave, but she had to pick up her brother. He would be where he tended to hang around lately._

 _Derek was standing outside the wreck of the house. It had been almost two months since the fire but the smell of smoke and burnt wood still permeated the air around here. He had been coming here every day since he was allowed to when the Sheriff finished having the place investigated. His once loving home was now just a blackened husk. Everytime he came here, he would just stare at all the damage that was done to his home and family…that he had done. This was his fault. Kate had destroyed his home. His family. And he had helped her. She had played him and he had enjoyed it every step of the way. He trusted her and she was using him probably from the very start. He looked over to where the remains of a bouquet now laid in front of the house. It was the one that Cora caught at the wedding. He and Laura had found it hidden in the brush a little bit away from Cora's window a few days after the fire. Their sister's scent had been all over it. She was so young, so innocent and she was now gone. They decided to leave the bouquet at the front of the house in her memory. Hers, Ray's, Janice's, their cousin and her family, their mother's betas…and their mother. Derek was especially torn up about that one. His very last word to his mom was 'Whatever' and he hadn't even looked her in the eye as he said that before he ran out on her because he couldn't way to get away from her. Now, the only thing he wanted right now was to hug her. She was right all along to treat him like a little kid, because he was. A stupid little kid. The ironic thing was, now he had himself a strong anchor to keep him controlled during a full moon. The first one he had after the fire had it come into play. Anger. Anger at what happened to his family, and to himself for allowing it to happen because of his foolishness. Laura was surprised at how his situation had changed but he never told her exactly how it did. He couldn't bear to see the disappointment, disgust and betrayal that would no doubt come over her if she knew. He couldn't have that. Laura was all he had left now._

" _I'm sorry," he mumbled at the front of his house._

 _There was the sound of a car pulling up and he turned around to see his sister pulling up to the house. They were going to leave Beacon Hills. Their mother had some old contacts that said they could stay with them until they were back on their feet. Laura was all for it and Derek couldn't fight her at all, and didn't want to. The things that could've kept him here: his senior year, the basketball team, his school friends; none of that mattered to him anymore._

" _Ready?" Laura asked as Derek climbed into the car._

" _Yeah," he said buckling up. "Let's get the hell out of here."_

 _Laura nodded. She gave their home one last look before she pulled the car out and then drove them off to head out of the property and towards the road, out of Beacon Hills. But, one day, they would be back._

* * *

Stiles was dragging himself into his home after his visit to Satomi. It turned out that her pack had been there, including Brett and his sister. They all thanked him for his help but he told them that the one they should really be thanking was Liam. He made sure to let his eyes linger on Brett as he said that. Afterwards, he spent a good hour speaking with Satomi. He didn't immediately jump into his situation with Argent, but when he got around to it, she had quite a lot to say. Stiles still didn't know if he was to trust the man or not but thanks to her words, he wasn't stressing about it as much as before.

He was now ready to let himself fall and collapse on his bed but he found that there was someone already sitting on it. He seemed to have been calmly waiting for him to get back and was lightly staring at him.

"Scott?" Stiles muttered.

* * *

A/N: I hope you enjoyed the second part of the interlude chapter. For Argent's old buddy Richard, picture him being portrayed by Matthew Morrison. The looks into the past helped to wrap up some vague questions and filled some holes, as well as give alludes to the future. I hope you enjoyed it.


	23. A Promise to the Dead

Chapter 23: A Promise to the Dead

Laura had taken herself and Derek off to the opposite side of the country. She had hoped that being on the opposite side would somehow make their lives just as opposite. Derek was all for it. The further he could be away from Beacon Hills and the memories, the better. Their mother had told them of a few people that their father had introduced her to and Laura felt they were the best chance for help. She was a druid emissary for a pack that lived in upstate New York. They found that the town was bigger than their home had been and the emissary lived off at the mountainous outskirts. She looked a bit older than Deaton was and saw that she had an apprentice that she was training. Her name was Maggie and she was only a year younger than Derek was. They were told that they would be allowed to stay in town only if their Alpha allowed but were assured that he was reasonable. Laura and Derek were then taken to meet this Alpha and his pack. His name was Oscar and was around his mid-20's. His pack numbered six and with the youngest beta, they saw that he was roughly Derek's age. Laura explained their situation to the Alpha but he had already been made aware of the tragedy they suffered in Beacon Hills. He permitted them to stay, granted that Laura not create any betas and form a pack on his territory. Laura agreed as she had no plans for making a pack so soon. Laura and Derek got themselves an apartment in town and tried to get through their new circumstances as best they could.

Derek was enrolled at the local high school to finish his senior year. The school had four sports teams, including basketball and Laura told him that he could join if he wanted. She wasn't going to enforce their mother's decision for him because it didn't seem as important now but Derek didn't care. The thought of playing basketball didn't matter to him anymore. His arrival had also stirred up some waves with most of the school's female population, but Derek wasn't interested in any of that either. He didn't care about being popular or enjoying his senior year as much as he did before the fire. He threw himself into his studies to distract himself and his grades found over a letter grade in improvement, though college didn't appeal to him. He then got himself a job at the local gym where he found comfort in lifting weights and the workout machines. He started to build up in muscle as a result making him more handsome than before, but he kept himself reclusive and hardly spoke to anyone.

However, he seemed to have found somewhat of a friend in Maggie. She was in the same high school as him and they had often studied together. Even after graduation, Derek had taken some interest in the herblore and supernatural lore that Maggie was learning. She was working hard to take over for the pack's emissary when she retired. Maggie became the only person that Derek really talked to, outside his sister. Eventually, they even found themselves hooking up a few times over the years though Derek never let himself take it further than that. Maggie didn't resent him for it though. She seemed to understand, even if he never explained himself. A part of him felt that he and Maggie could be good together, but Derek couldn't let himself open up to her and that wasn't fair to her. He couldn't let himself open to anyone, not after what happened the last time he did, not after Kate. Derek felt he didn't deserve happiness. Not when thinking of only himself had gone on and hurt everyone he ever cared about. He hoped that at least his sister could find some as he felt that she deserved it more than anyone.

Laura's time in upstate New York was moderately good. While her brother had gone on to finish high school, she had taken time off to try and learn about Alpha politics first hand, by observing Oscar and how he differed from her mother. He had been an Alpha for three years as he had taken down his former Alpha when she thought that Oscar was getting too strong and talented for his own good and had tried to eliminate him out of fear and jealousy. Laura rolled her eyes as she saw how that had backfired in the worst possible way. Oscar seemed to maintain a somewhat stable and well-established hold on his territory. His six Betas were all adults and she learned that, save for two, he had turned them all. The other two had been his fellow betas and had chosen to ally with him while the rest went their own ways as they refused him as their Alpha. The other four he had bitten and turned himself but they had all been over 18 when he did as he didn't want his pack and efforts hindered by teenage drama and personally had no patience for it. Apparently, he found underage Betas to be unreliable which Laura thought was somewhat narrowminded. Laura also discovered that Oscar had a zero-tolerance policy when it came to troublemakers. When a rogue Omega made his way to town and had gone on and killed two people, Oscar and his pack tracked him down and he personally killed him as he wanted to ensure that he didn't endanger him or his pack by attracting hunters to give him more trouble. He didn't like problems that he or his pack didn't cause themselves and that extended to her and Derek, though she and her brother made it clear that they weren't looking for any. After three years, Laura noticed that Oscar began to try to steadily include her in his business. He would ask for her opinion on a few matters and Laura would politely speak her mind to him as a fellow Alpha. Though, she learned that he had an ulterior motive when after a while he then proposed that the two of them join together as Alpha male and female of one pack. He felt that the two of them could forge a long lasting and strong powerbase, and he also confessed that he believed they would be good mates but Laura politely refused his offer. She did think he was handsome but felt him too pompous, cold and arrogant to be her type, though Oscar kept trying to pitch it whenever he felt he had a chance.

As for Derek, she was a little upset that he seemed to close himself off from everyone and seemed to be content with being on his own. She could sense that her brother had been broken by what happened to their family though he refused to speak of them or of home. She watched as he slowly became cold and bitter. She saw that he opened somewhat to Maggie though. She found the emissary in training to be great and they found themselves becoming great friends. A part of her hoped they could go on to officially even become family but Derek kept her at arms-length. After Laura felt that everything with them was stable enough, she went and enrolled herself at the local university. She had plans to focus on both business and sociology as she had wanted to pursue back at Berkeley. However, she found that there was folklore and mythology courses offered at the university and she took them on the side. She felt that it could be quite helpful down the road. She eventually got her degrees and graduated with full honors. In addition to college, Laura started looking into how to progress as an Alpha. She started digging deep into what her mother taught her and managed to unlock the power of shapeshifting. She was able to turn into a wolf just as her mother. Her brother felt that she actually looked kind of like her, though her fur was a lighter shade then hers had been. Unfortunately, Oscar also found out and made him extra determined to 'have' her but Laura froze him out just the same.

Laura started considering what to do next when she had gotten to her apartment to find that there was a package waiting for her, from home. She opened it to find that there was a report of poaching. There was a photo of a dead deer, and a spiral had been carved into its carcass. Laura knew what that meant. It had been six years since the fire happened and she and her brother had left Beacon Hills. Laura had very little contact from Deaton over the years as things there were quiet. The hospital kept her informed of her uncle's progress and it hadn't changed much. He still hadn't woken up and still bore his scars. Other than those two, she hadn't had contact from there, until now.

She informed Derek of what he found and she told him that she was going back.

"You can't be serious," he said as soon as she was done.

But Laura narrowed her eyes at him. "I am completely serious. We have to look into this. This could've been done by someone who survived that night."

"No one survived that night!" Derek roared in. "The only one who did was Peter, if you can call what happened to him surviving."

"We don't know that for sure. They didn't find all the bodies."

"Because they were burned to far to leave one," Derek hissed. "All we managed to find of mom was just her claws." He didn't want Laura to do this. Give herself or him any kind of false hope. "Besides, we don't know if that mark is even related to us. The fire isn't the only bad thing that happened in that town."

"Well, we won't find out by staying here."

"What's wrong with staying here? We've been fine here for the last six years. We've settled in fine here and Oscar and his pack don't mind us. There's no reason for us to go back."

Laura stared hard at him. "This is not our home Derek," she said simply to him. "That back there is our home. That's reason enough."

"Our home's gone Laura," Derek grimly reminded her. "They took it from us, remember? Because I sure haven't."

Her jaw tightened up. "Well…maybe it's time to finally take it back."

Laura was in her room, packing up her stuff into a bag. She was going to fly on ahead to Beacon Hills the following day. Derek remained stubborn and refused to break and return with her. She decided to leave him her car, in case he changed his mind. Laura did a last run through to make sure she wasn't forgetting anything. Her eyes then stumbled onto a picture that was tacked into the inside of her closet door. It was the drawing of a ship on the ocean waves. She could make out the S.S. Mischief inscribed on the ship's side. She went and carefully removed it before she folded it and put it in her pocket.

There was another reason for her to go back. Two of them, and they should be high school sophomores by now.

* * *

After checking on Peter Hale and seeing that he was at his apartment, Jordan Parrish pulled up to the front of the Martin house and solemnly stared at it. It was only nine o'clock and he could see that there were still lights on so he knew that Lydia had to be home but he wasn't leaving his car. He didn't know how he was going to approach this. After all, going to someone's house and asking them for help to find out what kind of supernatural creature you were wasn't exactly a common occurrence. Well, for him anyway. Based on what he could pick up from Lydia and her friends, this kind of thing might actually seem not too out of place. He made his way to the door and cleared his throat before giving the doorbell a ring.

The door opened and Natalie Martin appeared. "Officer?" she asked

"Deputy Parrish Ms. Martin. I was wondering if I could see Lydia please." Her eyes widened. "Oh, there's no trouble. I'm not here on duty. I was just hoping to talk to Lydia for a few minutes. Could you fetch her, please?"

Natalie gave him a small look before sighing. "Wait here." She then shrunk back into the house leaving Jordan standing there waiting. He let himself shift from heel to heel for a minute before Natalie came back out. "She's not here."

Jordan's face fell. His phone then started ringing and he saw that the Sheriff was calling him. Apparently, there had been a call to the station and it was from a 'special' friend of his.

* * *

A man was dragging a big body bag into a meat processing plant. It was late at night so no one was around and if there was any blood noticed, the workers in the morning would chalk it up to a wet beef slab. The guy then set the bag down and stared at it for a moment. It wasn't moving and he leaned in closer to check when the bag started to thrash as the person inside started to cry out in panic.

"Hey, relax! I'm going to open the bag! Do you hear me? I'm going to open the bag" he said soothingly to the one inside. The fidgeting ceased a bit and he went to pull the zipper down to reveal a woman, bound and gagged with duct tape inside. "It's Calista, right?" She was crying slightly but she nodded before her eyes went over to the side. He turned to look over at the blades and meat cleavers he had set up on a rack nearby and looked to see the fear multiply in her eyes. He smiled at her. "I guess you're coming to a certain conclusion. You're not going to be leaving here." He then moved to stroke the top of her head in a show of concern and comfort that clashed with what he was about to do. "It's okay that you're scared. See, contrary to traditional culinary practices, it actually tastes better for someone like me when the kill's been frightened." His mouth was practically watering. He hadn't had a decent meal since that whole mess with the Deadpool started. He had been forced to go to ground to avoid both the assassins and the police. But, with the hitlist shut down, he was free and clear. Not to mention starving. So, he went and picked up the first fit and young lonely person he could find and jumped them. A little sloppy, but with all the fresh murders and disappearances this Deadpool had caused, it would make the perfect smokescreen for the time being. The Wendigo revealed his rows of flesh tearing teeth to the woman and her cries poured out through the tape as he leaned in. The woman closed her eyes and looked away from him. "C'mon Calista, open your eyes. Open your eyes," he growled. He wanted to see her fear as he took his first bite.

Calista opened her eyes and turned over, but she wasn't looking at him. She was eyeing something over his shoulder. He turned around and saw Alan Deaton standing there. He quickly brandished his battle baton and swung at the Wendigo. He had the element of surprise so he got a few good shots in before the Wendigo was forced to his knees.

"Wait!" he cried out to the vet. "The Deadpool's over. You're not going to be paid," he said trying to reason his way out of it.

Deaton just tilted his head at him. "I'm not going to kill you Patrick. I'm taking you back to Eichen House. We're well aware of your, culinary practices."

He then went and swung the baton across his head and knocked him out. He looked over at his intended victim and removed the tape from her mouth.

"Uh, are you a cop?" she asked as soon as it was off.

"Veterinarian," he said like it was obvious. That only made the girl give him a look.

Alan then looked over at the unconscious wendigo. After the Deadpool was deactivated, Deaton had gone through the list of names to see who was still unaccounted for. Sadly, around half the names had been crossed out save for Scott and his friends along with Satomi and what was left of her pack. Kate Argent was still at large but Deaton saw that Patrick Clark, a wendigo he knew quite well, was being overlooked so he took it upon himself to track him down.

After calling the Sheriff and telling him the story, he left with Patrick before the man and his deputies arrived. He threw the Wendigo into his van and made his way for Eichen House. Once there, an orderly and doctor were waiting with a retraining gurney. They tied him on and made their way down to the institute's 'special' floor. The orderly moved to take him back to his room while Deaton and the doctor moved off to talk amongst themselves. They gave the other 'special' patients a small glance as they passed their rooms.

"Well, I'm relieved to have Patrick back in our care but I still need to advise you against doing this Alan. There is a reason that this floor isn't listed in the brochure."

"I came through on the end of our bargain, now it's your turn," Alan reminded him. "All I want to do is talk to him."

The doctor stopped walking to face him. "The last person that went to see Valack left the room but not the building. And, all they did was talk."

Deaton nodded. "I'll keep that in mind." He made it bluntly clear that he still wanted to go through with a 'talk' and wouldn't leave without one. His resolve paid off as he was then escorted to Valack's room. He stepped in to see the man sitting in his bed from behind the glass cell separating it from the door. He wasn't moving. "Dr. Valack?" he said to announce himself.

"You must be important," he said without moving his eyes down from the book he had in his hand. "I don't get many visitors. They don't usually let people get this close. They let me read but-" He then slammed the paperback shut. "Unfortunately, all I get are these trashy romance novels. I read this one seven times," he said disdainfully before he threw it off in a pile with a few others.

Alan just kept his eyes on him. "I was hoping we could talk. My name is Dr. Alan Deaton."

Not only did Valack finally break posture and look at him, but he got to his feet and made his way closer to the glass. "Oh, I know your specialty Dr. Deaton, and I know it's not cats and dogs."

"I'm here to learn what you know about South American Mythology."

Valack smiled at him. "No. You want to know about Kate Argent. You want to know about La Loba, the bone woman."

Alan was visibly surprised that a man confined in a cell like this knew so much. He guessed the rumors he heard about Valack's…capability was true. "I need to know what she did to Derek Hale and if he's dying."

"Why?"

Alan's eyes softened a bit. "Because of a promise I made, to a woman that I loved."

Valack became slightly amused. "Maybe you should write the romance novels. If you want to know more Dr. Deaton, you'll have to come closer."

"I've been advised against that," he said not moving an inch. "I only want to talk. To hear what you know."

"Oh, I know quite a bit Dr. Deaton. More than even you thought you knew about the people you've surrounded yourself with."

Alan let himself smirk a little. "I doubt that. You don't strike me as a very sociable person Dr. Valack."

"The thing about socialization, people often filter what they want others to know or don't want to know. I'm sure a man as sociable as yourself understands that better than anyone. Like how you've filtered what you know about the important facts that led to certain 'changes' to two young teens, one whom you'd taken into your employ prior. A werewolf who went on to have a 'retired' emissary that he had already forged a bond with prior to the event. That wasn't a coincidence, was it? "

"Well," Alan said as he tried to remain unbothered by Valack's words. "You're quite well informed doctor."

"I simply have a sixth sense for these things. It grants me certain benefits. Such as knowing the true circumstances behind the other young teen wolf that seemed to escape your attention or suspicion."

That made Alan narrow his eyes a bit. "What do you mean?"

"I'm sorry doctor, but to fully understand, you'll have to see it for yourself and you do that by coming closer." He then removed the bandage that he had wrapped around his head. It revealed a giant hole in his forehead that looked like a drill had been put through it.

Alan didn't react too much to that. "I don't know much about trepanation but I'm relatively certain that just because you drilled a hole in your own head, you somehow gifted yourself with extra sensory perception."

"Come a little closer, take a look for yourself," Valack goaded. Alan let himself step up a little closer and he focused his gaze into the hole. "Come on, that's it. Closer and _see_." When he got close enough, there was movement as a third eye was revealed.

Suddenly, he was in some kind of underground space where he found what looked like a stone altar. There were giant bones built into it and he looked to see that they were the bones of a Berserker. Then Deaton took a step back and turned around to see that he had stepped out into a forest and found that it was lightly raining. He saw a giant wolf with red eyes taking a giant prancing leap up and land firmly in some fresh mud before running off. It had left paw prints in the ground which started to slowly fill with running rain water.

Deaton's eye was then opened by the Eichen House physician as he checked him with his flashlight. He had been found in Valack's room, completely knocked out and seemingly comatose.

"No response," he muttered. "Keep monitoring him every hour." He then shook his head at the unconscious veterinarian. "They never listen."

* * *

In Derek's loft, Derek was looking over the guns that Braeden collected here while she was on the phone. She was over by the window as the dark night sky shined above. She then hung up but Derek could saw that she wasn't moving at all.

"Is everything okay?" he asked her.

"I'm…not sure. I just got a strange tip from one of my bureau contacts."

"What is it?"

"He said that a weapons and tactics team was requested to be deployed here to Beacon Hills an hour ago. An immediate and covert operation is supposed to happen at sunrise."

"Do you think its related to Scott and the others?"

Braeden shook her head. "I don't know. Just, with the timing and everything that's happened, it's a good bet they're connected." She then moved over to him and pulled a duffle bag on the table. "I'll have to look into it," she said before she started packing up some of the weapons. "But it'll have to wait until dawn."

Derek nodded as he moved to pack a gun or two for her. "Well, since it's not too long from now, maybe you should stay the night."

Braeden moved to face him and raised an eyebrow. "Is that a suggestion, or an invitation?"

Derek raised both his eyebrows at her. "Which would you like it to be?"

She stared flirtingly at him. "That's something I should be asking you."

Derek silently looked at her, letting his eyes look her up and down, before he closed the distance and lightly grabbed at her cheeks. He then slowly moved to take her in a slow but deep kiss. Braeden moved her hands to his back as she pulled him closer as she returned his kiss. Derek moved his hands from her cheeks to her hips where he lifted her off the ground and she moved her legs to wrap around him. Derek may not have his old strength but he was strong enough to carry them off to his room where he softly lay her on his bed. He hovered over her as he looked at her smiling at him lazily. He returned that smile before he moved to kiss her again. They softly made out with each other before Derek started to lift her top off her, leaving her in a sports bra underneath. He moved to send soft kisses at her shoulder as he climbed up her collarbone and went to lightly nip at her throat, causing her to take deep breathless sighs. Soon her fingers were moving for Derek's shirt to pull it off of him before she pulled him down so their lips connected back into a deep heated kiss with their tongues battling for dominance.

The two of them just laid there, after they went and took their good sweet time with one another. Braeden had fallen asleep, but Derek was lightly staring up at the ceiling. Having Braeden around him had made it easier for him to adjust to his current situation of losing his power. And, he had to admit, he liked having her next to him as he slept and…he wouldn't mind if they tried to take this thing a bit further. She was definitely much better than the last girl he had been with, though he felt that Braeden wasn't going to want to go any further. Right now, this was all a convenient arrangement. It wasn't like they would actually go on and date when this was all over. They were just a warm body to snuggle onto and satisfy each other's basic needs. He understood as he had been in this same arrangement with Maggie when he and Laura had shacked with Oscar's pack after the fire. Derek hadn't really been interested in having friends or being close to anyone after the fire, but somehow, Maggie had managed to find her way into his life. Before, he had tolerated her because she was the only one that talked to him who had been his age and knew all about him. He remembered that he gave her a good bit of the cold shoulder a good bit of his senior year and thought she was only bothering him because she was becoming friends with Laura. Then, she started to be the only one he actually liked having around besides his sister before they started to hook up on occasion. He remembered her saying that they were both young adults, both dateless and had needs so why not take care of those needs for each other with each other. He hadn't minded. He thought that their arrangement of friends with benefits was a good idea. Back then, Derek felt that was enough. Yet, as he laid there with Braeden, he wondered if Maggie really felt that way, or if she had felt like he was right now? Did she ever want to try and take it further with him like he would like with Braeden? Would he?

Those thoughts kept him wide awake so he instantly sat up in his bed when he heard a creaking in the next room. It was the sound of the sliding door opening. Derek went and quietly sat up at the edge of the bed before moving down to grab for the gun hidden underneath. He turned around to try and wake Braeden up but saw that she was already up and quietly getting out of bed to go for her own handgun. Derek gave her a nod before he slowly moved off for the main room. He looked and saw that the door was left open a crack and his eyes flew off to try to find where the intruder was. Braeden was covering his back as she scanned the room herself. By the far end, in the shadows, there was some rustling and Derek moved to point his gun in that direction. Braeden stopped moving and aimed that way too as Derek started to step closer. He made it three steps before a pair of feet stepped into the light from the near full moon pouring in through the giant window. Derek froze when he saw who it was.

"Lydia?"

She was staring blankly at him though her eyes were glazed over as if she wasn't really seeing him. Lydia then went and broke into a hard scream. One that had a certain deputy, who was leaving from the disturbance at the meat processing plant, managed to hear at the back of his mind.

* * *

Scott was sitting in Stiles' room, calmly waiting for him to get home. After shopping, he had gone to give his mother the surprise that he picked up for her. She had been pleasantly surprised at his gift and had thanked him for it. He smiled at her before he turned to leave the hospital where it dropped slightly. His mind was still on what he saw back at the market parking lot. He went to dump all the groceries he picked up back at his house before he went and got his bike and rode for Stiles' place. The Sheriff was there but he said that Stiles hadn't come home yet from when he went out earlier but had told Scott he could stay and wait for him. He decided to go to wait in Stiles' room for him. As he stepped in, his eyes went over to the new evidence board that Stiles had set up. Scott let himself look at all the papers and files that Stiles had hung up and looked over at the question in the center and he himself wondered who this Desert Wolf was. Scott then let himself keep waiting patiently. The Sheriff had come to ask if everything was alright and Scott told him that he didn't have to worry before he left to take care of some things at the station. Scott just sat there in that room, silently, until he found that it was getting close to midnight. Just what was Stiles doing with Liam that took up all this time? He began to wonder if it would be better to talk with Stiles when they met back at school but then heard a familiar jeep pull up in the parking lot.

Stiles was thrown when he spotted Scott in his room. He must've been so tired that he hadn't noticed his bike parked in front of the house. "Scott? What are you doing here?"

"Waiting for you," Scott sighed out. "I tried calling but it kept going to voice mail."

Stiles froze as he moved to take out his phone. "Oh, I turned it off when I was in the woods and must've forgot to turn it back on." He then went to turn it back on. "So, why were waiting for me? What's up?"

"Stiles, earlier today I saw you in your Jeep, with Liam." Stiles stilled in the middle of untying his shoes. "Please tell me that you didn't take him out for more training."

"Maybe," Stiles muttered as he moved to finish removing his shoes.

"Stiles," Scott said a little loudly. "I thought we talked about this."

"Actually, we never did Scott. All you did was get angry that I showed Liam some things before I stormed off when you left him alone when assassins were coming after us."

"Yeah, and I get that wasn't pretty smart and probably shouldn't have just left him at his home all alone. But neither was taking him with you to the lakehouse and putting him in the line of fire. He could've been killed Stiles."

Stiles' jaw tightened a bit. "I was just trying to keep him close so I could protect him."

"I want to protect him too but I don't want to go and treat him like he's now supposed to be some kind of supernatural soldier."

"Scott, it wasn't like I dragged him by ear for training like a drill sergeant. Liam asked me for help. 'I want learn how to be a werewolf', those were his own words. What was I supposed to do? Say, 'sorry kid, tough luck, you're on your own?'" he asked sarcastically.

"If he wanted to learn that much then you should've just stuck to the basics. Teach him control and help him find an anchor. That's all he needs."

"Which I did, but once I started, the kid didn't want to stop. He kept pushing for me to show him more. He's actually a good student and a quick learner. He got the hang of using his hearing and sense of smell kind of quick, and even found his anchor after only a week. But I thought that he should know things to better protect himself, you know, since he had just been stabbed and thrown into a well and he got really into it. To be honest, I did too."

Scott felt a burning twist in his stomach. Hearing about how Liam was taking to what Stiles showed him and how Stiles liked teaching him made his eyes and fingertips itch. "Well, it stops now. You say Liam has an anchor now, good. He can keep his shifting in check and now all he needs to worry about is the full moon. He'll be chained up on them until he learns how to handle it. With the Deadpool over, there is no need for anything else. He can focus on being a normal kid which is what I'm been trying to let him do. He doesn't need a constant reminder telling him that his life is ruined."

Stiles huffed out through his nose to try and quell the rising heat traveling to his head and a building itch in his fingertips. "Well, I'm sorry that I was stepping on your toes Scott." The feelings from his meeting with Argent, his run with Liam and seeing Satomi and her pack tonight all started to burn and rush out. "I'm reminding him that his life is ruined? Then maybe you should've just let Liam fall that night instead of saving him," he spit out sarcastically. "Save him and us all a lot grief in the long run."

Stiles tumbled back a step as Scott went and gave him a hard shove. The two of them were giving each other hard looks. Stiles let his blue eyes come out and Scott diverted his gaze away. Before anything else could happen both squinted their eyes shut as they moved to cover their ears. A hard scream was echoing in their eardrums. When it stopped they both straightened up.

"Lydia," they both muttered.

* * *

Scott was finally walking into his home after he parked his bike in the driveway. When they had felt Lydia's scream, he and Stiles put their argument on hold to try and find their friend as they feared that she might be in trouble. However, before they could leave the house, Scott got a call from Derek and told him that Lydia was with him. After reassuring them that she was okay, Derek told them that he and Braeden would see to getting Lydia home themselves. Scott then thought it was a good idea to just head on home and Stiles didn't argue with him on that. He tried to be quiet as he stepped in, thinking his mom might be sleeping now, but froze when he saw that she was standing in the kitchen. It looked like she was waiting for him. He looked at the time and could understand why she would be waiting on him.

"Sorry I'm late," he said as he was closing the door behind him.

"You're very late. I thought you had gone back home after you came to the hospital to drop off your surprise gift for me."

"Yeah, I did but I went to Stiles' because I needed to talk to him and he came home only half an hour ago."

"And I came home a few hours ago to see that the fridge and cabinets are fully stocked."

Scott ducked his head a bit. "Yeah, I went shopping," he said sheepishly as he remembered what he did to try and help his mother. Being over at Stiles' place made it all fly out of his mind. "I wanted to surprise you."

"You did." But she wasn't smiling. "Over 300 dollars worth of groceries. Sure you didn't have a little help setting that up?" Melissa then looked over at the table to let Scott land his eyes on the open gym bag filled with money. When she had seen the fully stocked kitchen, she thought that Scott might've done something drastic like take money from his savings account. But she checked and found that the money was untouched. She then had gone to his room but found it empty, and messy. She decided to tidy up a bit when she found the bag. With everything happening, she didn't have to guess whose money that was and how her son came by it. Scott seemed to be struggling to catch her eye but she did her best to try and make her expression blank and not judging. "How long have you had it?" she asked when she felt she could.

"Too long," he managed to breathe out.

"You know you have to give it back."

"I was going to," he tried to explain.

"Do I want to know why you haven't?" she asked sheepishly.

Scott let his eyes go back to that money. He then thought about all the times he looked at it, counted it and even let himself touch it since he'd had it. And every time, he went and put it back under his bed. Why did he always do that? "Because of you," he audibly answered.

His mom was thrown. "Me?" She then looked around at the counter where she kept the bills and she understood. "You mean because we've been struggling a little?"

"Mom, we're struggling a lot."

She sighed and shook her head. "Scott. You could save people's lives, but you can't save them from life. Life is full of struggles."

"But it doesn't have to be," he suggested as he moved for the bag.

"Honey," she sighed.

But he cut her off as he showed her one of the money rolls. "Do you know what one of these could do? This gets us a new roof." He reached for another. "And this pays for Stiles' MRI." And another. "This, this pays for Eichen House." Then he went for another. "And this, means that you don't have to work the double shift at the hospital and come home totally exhausted."

She nodded before she reached for one herself. "And this one?"

Scott took it from her and saw that it was covered in spots of blood. Blood that no doubt came from either Garrett and Violet's hands when they counted the money. After killing one of those werewolves to get it and their blood had rubbed off from their fingers while it was still fresh. Scott then realized that this money may have come from the Hale Vault, but it was gotten from people whose bodies he and his friends had come across. The thought made his grip loosen and the money fell out of his hands back to the table. "I just-"

His mom cut him off this time, gently. "Scott, you want so much to try and let things be normal around here. Well, worrying about bills, rent and falling behind payments, that is what normal people have to normally deal with in their normal lives. Normal is not perfect Scott, it's normal. This," she said pointing to the piles of money. " _This_ is nowhere near normal."

He stared at the money piles for a few seconds before he took a deep breath and let himself give a nod. He then felt his mother wrap her arms around him and pulled herself to him for a hug. Scott finally shut his eyes to rid himself of the sight of the money as he moved his arms around her to squeeze his mother back.

* * *

It was early in the morning, so early that the sun was barely shining through on the warehouse area outside Beacon Hills so it was somewhat quiet. At least it was before a small convoy of squad cars and a SWAT van pulled up in front of a particular warehouse. The two men at the front quickly ran inside as the police and armed SWAT started to emerge from the cars. Stepping out was Rafael McCall dressed up in a button shirt with a bulletproof vest.

"Send a team around the back to make sure that no one can get away," he ordered an officer. The man moved to follow his order and Rafael turned to the SWAT leader. "Your team ready?"

"Yes sir."

"Alright, prepare to move in."

The SWAT moved in formation as they headed for the main entrance. Quickly, Rafael and the other officers started to place on gas masks. The SWAT leader gave one of his men the signal and he crashed the door in before the man behind him pulled the pin on a cannister and threw it in. There was a small bang and the men moved in. Instantly, Rafael and the officers outside could hear the loud shouting going on inside just before there was gunfire. Rafael moved his team in and gave them the signal before they filed on in and pushed through the thick smoke to reinforce the first team. Immediately, they entered a full-on warring shootout against all the mercenaries and hunters gunning for them. He ducked in cover before he shot at a mercenary who was armed with an automatic rifle. When the smoke started to dissipate, Rafael looked down at the downed men that where either wounded or were lying face down with their hands behind their heads.

The SWAT leader came over to him. "The area is secure."

"Good," Rafael sighed as removed his mask. "How many did we get?" he asked the SWAT leader.

"Ten. Although, some men report that about three managed to flee in a small van. The escapees shot at them as they were exiting the warehouse from the back."

Rafael was not happy about that. These were the men that tried to kill his son just the other day. He hadn't wanted any _one_ of them to get away. "They won't be free for long," he promised. "And our men, how many were hurt in the bust?"

"Six were wounded and another is still out from suffering a small concussion but thankfully, nothing too serious. Ambulances are on their way now." The leader then looked out at the crates spread about. "What kind of operation were these guys running? I've done a few drug busts but I've never come across anything like this before."

The official story that Rafael made were that the people here were part of a smuggling ring. He was given a 'tip' from a reliable contact about where they could be found but they were beginning to leave so they had to move quickly. There were open crates where there were some weapons, such as guns, crossbows with arrows and hunting knives. There were plants of different species growing in special hydration machines and a work station where there were being grinded and processed into bullets and sap.

"I think that's above your pay grade," Rafael said simply to him. He dismissed the SWAT leader and he went outside and pulled his cell out. He quickly dialed up his contact. "It's me," he muttered. "We got them, well most of them. But, we managed to confiscate most of their resources."

Up on a ridge overlooking the warehouses, there were a pair of eyes, following McCall's movements through binoculars. Braeden then dropped them before she restarted her bike and moved to head on back.

At the other end of the agent's call, Chris Argent grunted in approval. "Good work."

"Well, your intel about their layout was on point. We managed to get through this operation with minimal collateral damage."

"I'm happy to hear that." He then looked over at the bone fragment in the evidence baggie that he had. "And thank you for letting me have access to the crime lab."

"Did you find anything useful? You know I took a big chance getting you in there."

"I know you did, and don't worry, it paid off." He let his eyes go to the water treatment plant.

"Glad to hear it. Argent," he added a little stiffly. "You know this doesn't change a thing. You're still a wanted man. Unless you can give me something more real than what looks like some very well armed botanists, then you're still an active mark on the bureau's list among its top fifty armed and dangerous."

"Good, because I am." Argent moved to the back of his car and opened the trunk to reveal his automatic side arms. "Don't worry," Chris grunted. "I'm not in this looking for a clean slate. What you can do for me on that end is a bonus but not a priority."

"Happy to see that you're trying to look at the glass half full here but this all still affects my son and his friends. The priority above all is them."

"I understand that, believe me. And don't worry about your standing with the bureau. I'm sure when your friends look deeper into the men that you've caught, your position will improve. Just be ready on your end when the times comes for the real threat against those kids." He then hung up before he moved his hand to rub at the sores that burned through his arm from his scars at the abrupt action. He moved to a case at the side of the trunk and opened it to reveal a syringe pump. He loaded a vial into it and then moved to pull the left sleeve of his jacket up. He felt for a vein and then thrust the needle in and pulled on the pump's plunger to inject himself. He then raised and lowered his arm a little before shaking his wrist to find that he wasn't feeling the injury. He let out a relieved sigh before he snatched his gun and closed the trunk. He moved into the treatment plant, slow and alert, as he began to navigate his way into the water tunnels. For half an hour, he came up empty seeing nothing and hearing nothing but occasional drips of water, before he started to find scratches carved into the walls. Argent scanned the floor and saw that there were a few cracks here and there but froze when he saw something in the water. He bent down and found that they were shattered pieces of bone. No doubt shed pieces of the Berserkers' armor. He analyzed it for a moment before he stood up and pointed his gun to the side and found Peter Hale. Peter was calm, despite the loaded weapon pointed firmly at him. Suddenly, the suspicions of Kate's 'partner' seemed all too clear. "How'd you find her?" he demanded.

"Keen sense of smell," Peter shrugged. "You?"

He pulled out the bone dagger that he had analyzed. "This came out of Scott's side. There are traces of calcium hydroxide on it. Used by water treatment plants as an anti-corrosive." He then threw the bone away and moved his hand to grip his automatic firmly.

"You tracked Kate and her Berserkers all the way down here, that's very impressive." He then tilted his head about. "I wonder if one of them might still be around," he said suggestively.

The next moment, there was movement behind him and Chris turned around to see a Berserker coming around the corner. Chris moved to fire on it but the giant was standing there, taking every shot he was firing off. But as he let the barrage loose, Chris was blindsided by Peter who came to him while he was distracted and flung him into the wall.

Peter then looked over at the dropped gun and gave it a look. "Where do you find all these wonderful toys?" he muttered.

* * *

After Stiles had dropped him off, he leaned back into the side of his bed as he turned his phone back on. He looked and saw that Mason had texted him about half a dozen times in the last hour.

"Mason, hey," he said as soon as he dialed him up.

"Liam, is everything alright dude. I must've texted you like ten times."

"Yeah, I forgot," he said rubbing at his forehead. "I was…doing stuff and I had my phone turned off and I lost track of time. I just got back home."

"You okay?" asked Mason.

"Yeah," he said quickly. "Everything's…fine." He then blinked the rush of new feelings away. "Hey, why don't you come over? We haven't played some games in weeks."

"Yeah, that sounds fun but I'm kind of in the middle of studying now."

"Well, why don't you study here? Come and sleep over?"

"Uh, maybe I better not. I'm starting to kind of get some of these algebra equations I've been having trouble with and I kind of want to stay on my roll."

"Oh," Liam mumbled.

"I'm sorry Liam."

"No, Mason, it's fine. I get it. I guess I should do some studying too. I'll see you at school."

"Yeah, see you then." They then hung up.

Mason seemed to sound a little concerned but hesitant with him. He guessed that he couldn't blame him. The last time they really spoke to each other was at the bonfire party, right before they separated when Deputy Haigh and his friends tried to burn them all to death. Liam guessed that he'd been trying his best to avoid Mason because he knew that would be the first thing they would talk about, along with everything else that seemed to be going on. Liam felt his nerves tightening up again so he decided to spend a good hour watching a documentary on his computer about wolves that Stiles had told him about. He had to admit, seeing actual wolves as they were running, playing, or just being themselves was oddly satisfying and relaxing to him. He then turned off his computer and went to just rest on his bed. He just hoped that things somehow felt less out of control in the morning. He then moved to shut his lamp off.

Next thing he knew, Liam was standing out in the forest as it was dimly lit with no idea how or why he was even there. This part didn't seem remotely familiar to him.

"Hello?" he called out.

Suddenly, Liam heard some faint barks and howls up ahead and moved off to see what was going on. He stepped off into some kind of clearing and his eyes widened at what was there. He saw two big wolves, one lighter shade of brown than the other, and they were running about the perimeter of the clearing like they were racing each other. When they got to a point across from him, Liam then saw them splitting off. The darker shade one moving for a fox with a dark yellow shaded coat that was sitting upright. The wolf moved to sit next to it and affectionately nuzzled the side of its face against it and it bent its head down, in almost like a blushing kind of manner. As for the wolf with the lighter coat, it went over to a coyote and they started circling one another playfully before they went to nuzzle their snouts with one another. Liam then noticed that there seemed to be some kind of giant tree stump and he saw that Lydia was sitting on it. She wasn't alone either. There was someone else, but the lighting was too dim to make out who it was. He was moving to take a closer look at who she was with but when he stepped further in, the two wolves, coyote and the fox started to walk over to him. Liam stood still as the four of them stopped right in front of him, all tilting their heads up at him. The coyote and wolf next to it had their eyes letting out a blue glow while the other wolf looked at him with glowing red eyes. The fox tilted its head as an orange glow emitted out from its eyes. Liam found himself relaxing as they stared at him with those eyes and he let a small grin loose.

But he stiffened when there was a growl behind him. He turned around and Liam's eyes widened as there was a very big jaguar stepping slowly for them. It had a fierce look on its face and was low in a predatorial stance. Liam felt the brush at his legs as the four animals behind him moved in. The wolf with the red eyes moved to be at his side while the fox and coyote moved to be in front of them. The blue-eyed wolf moved to be in front of them all and was in a low fighting stance, as it growled threateningly at the jaguar, the first ready to take it on. There was then a thumping noise and from where the direction the jaguar came and a giant hulking Berserker was stepping slowly for them.

While the wolves, fox and coyote growled at its appearance, Liam found himself backing away a few steps, his breathing quickening. "No," he muttered before he turned to look over in Lydia's direction but didn't see her, the other figure or the stump anymore. Instead, he saw what looked like a big hulking…thing crutched low. The four animals didn't notice as they all had their eyes on the jaguar so they didn't notice the…monster sneaking over. Liam wanted to shout something to warn them but the creature gave him a hard look and Liam found himself frozen. He couldn't move or give any kind of alert just as the jaguar and Berserker made hard growls which seemed to signal the giant creature to leap up and pounce at the red eyed wolf.

Liam then gasped out loudly as he sat up and found himself back in his room and it was morning. He was a sweating mess and was breathing quite quickly. He took a few seconds to calm himself down when he realized it had only been a dream. No, a nightmare. One that both had him afraid and even more agitated than ever.

* * *

Stiles was sleeping in his room, out like a log. Right after Scott moved to head home, Stiles moved to throw himself into bed. He was too tired to even let his mind wander on what had happened, both with them or with Lydia. He had just drifted to sleep the moment his head hit that pillow. He was so out that he didn't even react to the person stepping into his room.

Malia had gotten up early and decided to head over to Stiles' house so that they could go together for his practice session. She was thinking about climbing into his window like she usually did but decided to show him how much she was learning and went to his front door. She went to get the spare key that Stiles had shown her. She got into the house and headed up to his room and gave a small knock to the door. She then peeked in and found that Stiles was still sleeping.

"Stiles," she mumbled to him. Stiles didn't even react to her voice. He just kept snoring away as he laid on his back. She moved over to his bedside and gave him a shake. "Stiles," she tried again. "Wake up. Don't you remember, you have an early morning practice for the big game tomorrow, remember?" But Stiles gave a mumble and turned over to keep sleeping. "If I have to watch a lacrosse game then you better not suck."

"Suck," Stiles mumbled almost inaudibly as he kept sleeping.

Malia rolled her eyes. "Remember, you're supposed to drive me so I could get more studying for the big math test. The one that determines if I'll be a senior with you next year," she said as she followed after him when he turned over.

Malia sighed before she broke away. She thought it might have been better to just climb through the window. She let her eyes wander around the room until they got to Stiles' evidence board. Her eyes narrowed as she noticed that it was different from the last time she had seen it. There were new papers and pictures taped to it, for a new mystery. Malia looked and saw that Stiles had set it up to find her mother, The Desert Wolf. Stiles must've taken upon himself to try and find her mother for her, and she hadn't asked him to. He was doing it simply for her and from the looks of it, he had been working really hard, on top of everything that had been going on. She felt a smile creep up on her and turned to look over at her sleeping boyfriend. She moved over to him and pulled him back so that he was lying back on his back.

"Wha-" Stiles tried to say.

But he couldn't finish the word as Malia moved to kiss him. Stiles was caught off guard but it was only for a second before his body relaxed and he moved to return her kiss by instinct. His hands moved to fondle her cheeks while Malia pulled at his head to keep them close. Their lips rubbed against each other while the tips of their tongues passed over each other slightly making their kiss pleasant but not too innocent either. They went at it for half a minute before Stiles was the one that broke away.

Malia looked at his eyes and saw that they were still a little dreary. "Good morning," she said to him.

Stiles blinked. "Why'd you do that? I mean, I know why," he shrugged. "It's just, I haven't even brushed my teeth yet."

Malia's smile deepened as she moved her hand affectionately up and down his cheek. "I don't care," she said simply to him.

Stiles took a moment to just stare at her. Letting himself blink away his sleepiness as he saw the morning light brighten her face. Malia hadn't smiled like this, or at him, in weeks and it made her look more serene and beautiful than she usual was. Stiles let himself lean back as he gazed longingly at her and felt all the tension and tiredness seep out of him. He broke into a calm smile as he moved to pull her into a kiss himself. They moved to grab one another as their kiss quickly built up in heat. Stiles' confidence burned through him and pulled her into the bed as he moved to pin her underneath him.

"Wait," Malia said making him freeze. "Won't we be late?"

Stiles' smile deepened a bit as he gazed softly at her. "I'll skip breakfast. Might be hungry all morning but, I don't care."

He then hungrily claimed her mouth as Malia's hold on the back of his head tightened. Stiles began to move for Malia's button shirt and started to move it apart and Malia moved him away a bit so that she could lift herself up and take the shirt off. She threw it off to some corner of his room as he moved to lay her back flat against his mattress as he hovered over her. He showed his teeth a bit as he smiled at her before he moved to playfully rub the bridge of his nose at her neck. Malia let out a surprised girlish giggle when he softly kissed at the base before she moved to yank at the bottom of his T-shirt, pulling it up before he went on his knees to pull it off the rest of the way for her. Malia then sat up and pulled her own T-shirt off and then removed her bra for him as well. The two of them stared softly at one another for a moment without saying anything. Malia then moved to let her hands run softly over his chest, feeling the muscles hidden underneath his lean appearance. Stiles let himself feel her touch for a while before he moved his hand to return the favor. Rubbing over the length of the smooth skin of her arms before ghosting over her breasts with the back of his hand. They took their time, alternating between playfully admiring the other's body and leaning over to softly make out. When Malia moved to pull on the string of his pajama bottoms, Stiles stepped off the bed to pull them off before going over to his cabinet and getting a condom from the box he kept there. As Stiles put it on, Malia removed her pants and threw them over in Stiles' direction and he turned sharply to avoid getting hit. He quickly moved back to his bed and pushed at her shoulders to lean her back as he moved to position himself. He stopped to look down at Malia's face. Her eyes glowed when his eyes met her and he felt his own eyes go blue in response. Malia then reached up with both her hands and grabbed him at his cheeks to pull him down for a breathtaking kiss. He swallowed her moan as he pushed into her at the same time. Malia had left the door opened when she had come in, so the sounds of Stiles' rocking bed and their moans and gasping of each other's names could be heard all through the house. Thankfully, Stiles' father was still at work.

* * *

Scott skipped on making it to the morning practice to go to Derek's and give him the money back. He explained how he had gotten it and that he had been holding it all this time.

Derek nodded as he then pushed the bag away from him. "Okay."

"Uh-" Scott was surprised at his nonchalant reaction. "Don't you want to know why it took me so long to return it?"

Derek just smiled at him. "How much do you make at the animal clinic?"

"Minimum wage."

"That's why. _Everyone_ can be tempted Scott. Even a True Alpha." He knew what Scott was currently going through. He managed to hear some talk going around the hospital when he had been there after Braeden's injury.

In Derek's room, Braeden was standing at the doorway, listening in but the two were none the wiser.

Scott let his gaze drop for a second. "You're not angry?" He had been expecting some kind of backlash from this. It was half a million dollars after all.

Derek shrugged. "It's not even mine, it belongs to Peter."

"Well, where's your money?"

"You're standing on it."

Scott went and looked down at his feet and his eyes widened as he came to an incredulous conclusion. "There's _another_ vault?"

Derek tried very hard to fight the urge to laugh but some did escape him. Scott really could be dense sometimes. "No, I own the building," he said amusingly. "And I have my own bank accounts." But Derek stopped when he remembered what happened last night. If it meant what he feared it meant than maybe he should tell someone, just in case. And, he trusted Scott. "Listen Scott, about Lydia. You know she was here last night."

Scott nodded. "You gave her a ride home last night, right?"

"Well, I was about to, but that deputy, Parrish, he pulled up and offered to take her home himself."

Scott narrowed his eyes a bit. "Why was Parrish there?"

Derek shrugged. "I asked, and even he doesn't know. He just knew where Lydia was after she screamed. It must tie into whatever he is."

"Did she say what happened?"

"No, she doesn't remember leaving her house last night."

"But, if she went to you then it could mean that you're in danger."

"Scott," Derek mumbled. "Banshees don't predict danger, they predict death. That's why I think you should probably know something. In case something happens."

Scott could already see where Derek was taking this. "Nothing's going to happen to you," he cut in firmly. "Deaton is out there trying to find out just what it was that Kate did to you. You're going to be fine Derek."

Derek smiled slightly again. He saw that Scott firmly believed that. But, that didn't mean that it necessarily would be true. "Well, whatever ends up happening...you should know, I'm thinking of selling the loft." Scott's eyes rose a bit. "One way or another, I'm going to leave Beacon Hills, for good."

"What?" Scott mumbled. "Why, is something wrong?"

"No, it's not like that. It's my sister, Cora...she's pregnant."

Scott's jaw dropped a bit as the air escaped his lungs. "Uh, what? How?" Scott asked him. Derek raised his eyes at him and he shook himself out of it. "I mean-"

"I know," Derek said to spare him the embarrassment. "I'm leaving to go and be there for her and her child."

Scott let a small smile loose. "Do you know what it is?"

Derek shook his head. "It's a family tradition to find out only at the big day."

"When is that?"

"At most, a month."

"Well, congratulations. You know, on being an uncle."

Derek smiled as he nodded. "Thanks." His gaze fell over to the bag of money. "Hopefully I can be a better one than Peter was. That's probably why it might be best if this, and the rest of his money doesn't find its way back to him. I can only imagine what he would do with it, especially after all of this."

Scott's face fell a bit. "Stiles kind of said the same thing."

"Well, he's not wrong," Derek said. Scott sighed and looked off to the side. Derek could see that Scott seemed a little frustrated. "Something wrong Scott?"

He sighed heatedly before he looked back at him. "It's Stiles. And Liam." Scott then went to explain what Stiles had been doing by training Liam without him knowing and it had led to the arguments they had back at the clinic and last night.

"Scott, I can't see a problem. Stiles isn't doing anything wrong. He's just trying to look out for Liam like a fellow pack member should."

"But, that's just it. Every time Stiles shows and teaches him more, he's getting pulled in deeper. I don't want Liam to have to feel like this now has to be his life. Where he constantly has to think about killers and monsters. I didn't want him to feel...like he can't be normal again," he muttered, his voice trailing off as his time with his mother came back to him.

"Like what had happened to you?" Derek guessed why Scott was really feeling so bothered by this. "Scott, Liam won't ever be able have a normal life. Not the one you want for him."

"I know," he huffed out. "But, I have to at least try to give him as much as one as possible. It's, my fault," he said lowering his voice.

"Scott, if you're scared that Liam blames you, don't be. If he did then I don't think that Liam would've gone to the hospital for you with your friends. And he's not being forced to do anything he doesn't want. Stiles did say that Liam came to him, right?" Derek narrowed his eyes when he saw a crimson shine pass Scott's eyes at that last part. Now, Derek had a hunch about what might really be wrong. "Scott...are you really mad at Stiles because you didn't know he was doing this, or maybe because you feel Liam might be starting to look more to him than you?"

Scott blinked at him. "What? Why would you ask me that?"

"Because I think there is something else going on. I think the main reason you're fighting with Stiles on this so much is because you're threatened by him. Or at least, your wolf is."

"What? Why would it feel Stiles is a threat?"

"Because it might fear that Stiles is taking your beta from you. Causing his allegiance to change from you to him. I know because I felt something like that when Isaac started looking to you instead of me."

"What?" Suddenly, Scott saw an image of Stiles staring down at him with red eyes before he walked away with Liam at his side. "But Stiles isn't an Alpha."

"No, but Liam is starting to treat him like one and that could be why Stiles is getting angry with you too. Because a kind of power struggle is starting to build between you two." Scott looked like he had just been punched and Derek could see he was getting freaked. Honestly, Derek should've predicted something like this might happen. Both Scott and Stiles could be a little too stubborn and headstrung for their own good. It was fine when they were together at the same rank, but now that Scott was an Alpha, their whole dynamic was off. He went to sit and rub at his chin as he thought of a solution. And, he might have found one. "But...I think I know something that can help."

"What?" Scott said eagerly. If there was a supernatural reason why they had been fighting than he wanted it to be over as soon as possible.

"Maybe, you should consider making Stiles be your Second."


	24. A Promise to the Dead part 2

Chapter 24: A Promise to the Dead part 2

Stiles and Malia pulled up to the front of the school after their "get together". It went a little longer than they thought and Stiles ended up almost getting pulled over as he sped to try and make up the difference. Stiles got to the lacrosse field though froze when his stomach started grumbling.

A team member was unwrapping a rice krispie treat and was about to take a bite when it was snatched out of his hand. "Hey!" he cried out at Stiles.

Stiles held the treat at him. "You shouldn't be eating these things anyway," he said right before he went to take a bite of it himself. He was hungry and this would have to sate him until lunch.

A yawn made its way out of him as he set his bag to the side and moved to get a feel for his net, giving a few practice swings. He then shoved the rest of the treat into his mouth, so he didn't notice someone moving for him.

"Hey, Stiles?"

Stiles snorted roughly and looked over to see that Liam's buddy Mason was standing next to him.

"Mason?" he asked with a mouth full of the snack treat before swallowing and wiping at his mouth. "What's up? Looking for Liam?"

"Actually, I was hoping I could talk to you."

"Me? About what?"

"About everything. What's been going on for like the last month. I mean, Liam spending so much time with you, Scott and the rest of your junior friends. Then, how Liam just vanished while we were running but turns up missing and he suddenly shows up and can't tell me where he went or what happened. And, all that craziness at the bonfire, when your dad comes and tells me to get rid of a soundboard while he goes after Liam and your friends who were taken away by security guards and an hour later, he has them all arrested and Liam and your friends are all gone. I know Liam is involved but I can't figure out what it is and he won't talk to me."

Stiles sighed. Mason was smart and intuitive, way too smart and intuitive. But, Stiles could feel how anxious and worried he was. "Why come to me?"

Mason shook his head. "Last time I came to you, Liam was missing but he turned up okay a few hours later. I know that you know what it is and it's obviously something serious if your father is involved. I guess that if I come to you again, then somehow, I can find out what's wrong with my best friend and if he's in trouble, actually help him."

Stiles looked around them and found that there were some people close enough to them that might be able to overhear. "Let's go over here." He went and took Mason to a less crowded part of the field. "Mason…okay, first of all, you're right. I do know what's been up with him lately, but it's not for me to say. What I can tell you, is that the worst of it is mostly over. The parts where my dad has to be involved is at least."

"So, he's not in trouble?"

"No, at least, not in the way you might've been thinking."

"So wait, then he's still in some kind of trouble?"

"More like, having trouble. But don't worry, we've been working on it and he's actually getting a better handle on it than he thinks he is."

"On what?"

Stiles shook his head. "I'm sorry Mason, I can't tell you that."

"Why not?"

"Because it's not mine to tell," he told him sternly. "Look Mason, this is something that he probably doesn't want to burden you with. You're his best friend."

Mason let out a deep heated breath. "And he's my best friend," he said simply. "When I came out, I let myself get pushed around because I was too afraid to stand up for myself. He stood up for me, helped me to not let anyone make me hate myself. So, if he's in trouble, then he's probably being half-assed in trying to get out of it. He's going to need me to fill in the blanks for him."

Stiles smiled to himself. "Oh, I hear ya." He did. Stiles knew exactly how Mason was feeling. He'd been there with Scott quite a few times, chief among them, during his star-crossed romance with Allison back when her family wanted to cut the both of them in half. He had to be there to try and drill some sense into him, not that he ever wanted or did listen most of the time, but still. "Mason, do you remember when Liam went missing from Lydia's party? You said the same thing back then, remember?"

Mason remembered. Liam had vanished and had been acting strange which had made him worried and when he had tried to get answers from Stiles before, he had told him that it was because Liam was his best friend. "Yeah."

"Do you remember what I said to you back then?"

"Uh…to make sure that he could still count on me."

Stiles nodded. "Yeah, but, I also told you to not let his problems make him believe its okay to let him be a jackass." Oh, how Stiles wished that he had done that from the beginning, himself. Hopefully, Liam and Mason don't ever go through what he and Scott had and are going through with each other. "Look Mason, I can't tell you what is up but I will tell you that Liam is definitely getting better, so don't have to worry too much. And I think he will tell you what's going on when he's ready to tell you. Just make sure that he knows you'll be there when he's ready. But, in the meantime, you also make it clear that it doesn't give him the license to just shrug you off and that you'll just take it."

* * *

At Coach's class, Lydia, Kira and Malia were sitting as Coach was going around to hand them the results of their tests. Lydia was staring down at her book but not really reading anything. Her mind was far away, back at the loft. The last time that happened was back during the Darach's human sacrifice rampage a few months ago. With all the things she had been through since then, she thought that she had least gotten over blacking out and reappearing at random places by now. She guessed that the consolation was that she hadn't woken out of it to find a bleeding corpse so it was somewhat progress. But, she had a feeling that someone close to her was about to become a bleeding corpse. Lydia was so consumed by these thoughts that she didn't hear the sound of her name being called.

"Lydia? Lydia?!" Lydia blinked and looked over to see that Malia was calling her and holding up a test paper. "Look, I passed," she said gleefully.

Lydia zeroed her vision on the paper and her eyes narrowed at the grade on it. "C plus?" Not exactly a grade that Lydia would personally be jumping up in joy about.

But Malia looked ecstatic. "Yeah. Your notes are great when they're not written in code."

"Not to mention all the extra studying that Stiles has been helping you do," Kira casually threw in. "You should be happy." Kira gave her a smile in support. She knew that Malia had been working hard and was worried seeing as how she had been behind everyone else.

Malia smiled back at her but turned when Coach came over and slammed down a more recent test. This one a C minus.

"Just one wrong question away from a full letter drop. Careful Malia. Don't start disappointing me," he said to her sternly.

Malia's grin faded a bit and she gave a solemn nod. Before, she and Stiles had worked hard and long together to help her crack where she was having trouble, motivated by the fact that Stiles would let her spoon him if she got enough practice questions right. But, after that whole thing with finding out that she was Peter's daughter and that he had known but didn't tell her, that study time had been cut until recently, which obviously cost her. She looked from the test back over at Lydia with a less enthused smile on her face.

Lydia shrugged at her. "At least you passed," she said trying to keep her spirit up. Malia gave a nod but it wasn't as enthused as before. "I'll send you my notes. You can look them over, it'll be okay," she lightly assured her. Malia sighed as she went to look her recent test over and Lydia moved her gaze up to the board.

Kira noticed that Lydia's gaze seemed to be a little tense and haunted. She followed her gaze to the board and saw that there were names on there, with money values next to each, kind of like the Deadpool. She leaned in. "Hey, it's over. The computers are off," she reminded her. "No more assassins, no more murders. No one's dying."

"Not yet." Lydia could feel that, deep down, that while the computers were off, it was far from over.

* * *

Braeden was dressed up in a pants suit with a suit case jiggling a bit at her side with every confident step she took into City Hall. There were half a dozen people sitting up in a board room in the building and seemed to be waiting for her. Braeden then slammed the briefcase down onto the table and slowly removed her sunglasses to stare them down.

The mayor was at the center and he broke the silence. "Well, Ms-?"

"You can just call me Braeden," she told him.

He nodded. "Well then, Braeden, why have you called for this town council meeting?"

She moved to unlock the briefcase. "I have a business proposition for Beacon Hills," she told them before she opened it to reveal rolls of money underneath.

* * *

It was Physics class and Scott was trying hard to pay attention and make the best notes that he could. Lydia's mom was teaching this class and she was going through material that would be on a big exam she would give them next week. This was one of the classes that he couldn't afford to have his grades slip down on. As Scott was copying down a diagram that was on the board, he heard a light snoring coming from his side. He looked over at the other side of the station to see that Stiles had his head lying on his notebook as he was sleeping. This was their first class together for the day and they didn't speak when it started. They both were still reeling from their argument last night. But, seeing Stiles sleeping and drooling close by, Scott almost forgot what he was mad about.

He couldn't help but think about what Derek asked for him to consider. Scott was confused about what a 'Second' was. Derek then explained that usually Seconds were looked at as next in the Alpha's chain of command for a pack. If the Alpha wasn't around or couldn't be reached then the rest of the pack turned to the Second for direction and leadership. Same could be said for any outsider that had business with the pack or Alpha. Scott didn't like the sound of that because it made a pack sound like an army which is close to what he and Stiles had fought about in the first place. However, Derek told him that Seconds actually had a much more vital and deeper role for the future of the pack, in that it guaranteed a future. Should anything happen to the Alpha, then the Alpha's rank, eyes and power would be passed on to the pack's Second upon death, provided of course that the power wasn't stolen from the Alpha by another werewolf. Otherwise, the pack was left defenseless and directionless, and often ended up being broken apart with its members becoming Omegas. The true role of a Second was to be the one to look and take over in the pack when the Alpha's time ended, often abruptly. Derek told him that his mother Talia had made Laura their pack's Second and, after the fire, Laura had found that she gotten her mother's red eyes. When Derek was an Alpha he had never appointed a Second for his pack and he admitted that he had selfishly believed his pack wouldn't have a future passed his time. Derek then asked Scott that if something happened to him, would he feel content knowing that his pack was left in good hands? If those hands belonged to Stiles?

Scott had to admit, he had honestly never thought of it before. Never even considered. The rank of Alpha, and his pack, all of it really just fell onto his shoulders and he only ever tried to get them all by and deal with it the best he could. He never really gave a thought to it having a future. But, with everything that happened with the Deadpool, and now his talk with Derek, he couldn't help but start thinking some. What if something had happened to him, or did happen? What would happen to Kira? To Lydia? To Malia? To Liam? And Stiles…he looked closely over at his sleeping friend's face. If Scott gave a thought to having a Second, would he make it be Stiles? For Stiles to become the Alpha for the pack? Despite everything going on with them, if it all came down to it, would Scott be okay trusting all their friends, the pack, leaving it all to Stiles? Or, would it be better and safer for them all if his power did just disappear with him? Before he could think anymore, a pointer stick slammed down at the station making Scott jump in surprise and Stiles cough out as he jolted awake.

"Mr. Stilinski," Natalie Martin cried out as she raised the stick back up. "I do hope I'm not making this class too boring for you," she said mockingly.

Stiles blinked rapidly and shook his head as he felt the heat of Lydia's mom's hard stare. "No, no Ms. Martin. I'm sorry."

Her stern look started to set in. "I expected more than this from you Stiles."

"I know. I know," he muttered softly as he visibly deflated. "I'm sorry."

She then started to soften a bit. "Don't disappoint me, or more importantly, yourself."

"Yes, Ms. Martin," Stiles nodded as he went and tore off the page in his notebook that he drooled on so that he could start over.

Ms. Martin then walked away leaving and Stiles cleared his throat before rubbing at his eyes. He then set to work in jotting down notes as Scott watched him from the corner of his eye.

* * *

Chris was being manhandled by the Berserker as soon as he managed to come to. He was completely unable to free himself from its hold as Peter was strutting confidently towards him with a strip of metal.

"Finally awake," Peter said as he saw the man stirring.

Chris tried to move but the Berserker kept him firmly pressed into the wall. Peter was Kate's accomplice. The one that had helped Kate learn control and was targeting Scott. "Why are doing this Peter?"

Peter moved to tightly grip at the man's jaw, painfully. "I'm just trying to get back what is mine. What has always been rightfully mine and, was stolen from me."

"And what would possess Kate to side with you?" Chris muffled out through Peter's grip on him. "Or you to side with her? After everything you two have done to each other."

Peter chuckled. "Yes, well, as much as your sister and I do despise each other, there's others the both of us despise a hell of a lot more. Who took more from us than we ever did from each other. And, unfortunately, while I promised Kate that I wouldn't kill you." He moved from gripping Chris' jaw to the side of his head so that he could look him square in the face. "I also can't let you leave," he said with a sympathetic tone of voice that contradicted what he was about to do next. He then went and drove the spike directly into his side, making it pierce straight through and pinning him into the wall.

Chris let out a deep grunt of pain through his clenched teeth as he felt a bite of the pain traveling through his side and light up every fiber of his being. His right hand reached for the spike to pull on it but Peter kept his hand gripped on it to keep it from budging. Peter then moved to twist the end of the spike up to keep him locked in there.

Chris tried to fight through the pain to keep his hard glare on Peter. "Damn you," he spat at him.

Peter rose his eyebrows at him. "Hmm, surprising resilience Chris. Most would be screaming or passed out."

"I've been hurt worse," Chris spat at him.

Peter then looked down at his hand that was now caked with the man's blood. His eyes narrowed as he caught something strange. "Curious smell." He brought his fingers closer to his nose as he gave the blood a deeper smell. He then brought his forefinger to the tip of his tongue and his eyes widened. "Ah," he said with a nod. "Pain killers." He knew the taste of them well thanks to his years stuck in the hospital after the fire. "Now, why would Chris Argent need to inject himself with pain suppressant drugs before going on a hunt?"

Chris just glared at him as he tried to remain stoic and strong through the spike piercing him. His right hand was at the point of entry, trying to stem the bleeding as much as possible. Peter moved a clawed finger to the bridge of Argent's nose and caused the hunter to reach for the hand with his free hand by impulse. But Peter latched onto the wrist and squeezed it to lock it in place. Chris finally broke composure and let out a small but deep scream of pain.

Peter noticed the spike in Chris' pain and moved to rip the sleeve down. He chuckled at the sight of the claw mark scars running down his arm. "Ouch. That explains it. Now, what could've been strong and skilled enough to do that to the Great Christopher Argent?" he chuckled.

Chris' narrowed eyes flew from the scars to Peter. "The same person who will do this and more to you if anything happens to Scott."

The werewolf just let out a single chuckle under his breath. "I don't doubt that, which is where your sister comes in. See, while Scott may be mine, Stiles belongs to her." He then backed away. "Get comfy Chris, because as soon as those pain killers wear off, every second will feel like an hour."

Peter then headed on off with the Berserker following after him, leaving Chris stuck to the wall of that dark and dank tunnel.

* * *

Liam needed a distraction. During his free period, he went to the weight room and moved to lose himself at the weight bar. Mason was already there, lifting barbells and saw as he began to stack weights on the bar, one by one, with a troubled look on his face.

"That's a lot of weight," he couldn't help but point out.

Liam sighed. "I got to get ready for the game." Truth is, he was sure he would be fine for the game. Unlike last time, he wasn't going in blind. He knew how to handle his new strength and had an anchor now. But, what he really had to do was be ready for whatever it was that would be coming for him next. Those…things, Berserkers, were still out there. And he had to be ready to help his pack. They were counting on him.

"Need a spot?" Mason offered.

"No," Liam smirked. With his new strength and with all of his training, he wouldn't need it. He then looked over at the simple and single weights Mason was lifting and hard breaths he was taking with every lift. "Do you?"

Mason stopped and narrowed his eyes at him. "This is just my warm-up. Ass," he huffed up.

Liam moved to lay under the bar and moved to begin lifting but Mason moved over to the bar. Liam quickly sat back up. "What are you doing?"

"Spotting you," Mason said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. With as much weight that was on the bar, he would be crazy to leave Liam alone with it.

"I said I don't need one," he barked out. "Really, I don't need your help."

"Are you crazy? This thing must be, 300 pounds," he said as he took a look at all the weight that Liam had stacked.

Liam just sighed and moved to begin to lift it. He lifted it off and pushed a set before putting it back on the bar. He then sat up and looked at Mason's stunned face. "See? I told you that I don't need your help."

"Liam, what is going on with you?" Mason sighed out.

"Nothing, okay," he coughed out at him. "I'm fine. Can you just, leave me alone?"

Mason narrowed his eyes before shaking his head at him. "You know what, if that's what you really want, fine."

Mason then grabbed a rag and wiped off the sweat from his brow and threw it at him. It went and bounced off Liam's cheek but he hardly reacted as Mason walked out the door.

"Fine," he muttered under his breath before settling back to do his set.

Mason turned the corner after pushing passed the doors and bumped into someone. "Sorry," he muttered before he turned and saw that it was Scott.

Scott could smell the irritation and frustration leaking out of him. "Mason? You okay?"

Back in the weight room, Liam started pumping the iron bar slowly. With every raise of the bar, Liam's mind drifted to the night at the hospital roof, where he had been beaten by that Berserker. Then, he started to see the assassins at the lake house. He saw as a gun was pointed at him and then a spray of bullets were being fired right at him. He saw Scott's gentle and consoling face as he talked with him. Then he saw Stiles smiling proudly at him. The speed that he was raising the bar increased with double the speed then and it was almost like a blur. But, a hand went and grabbed it, stopping him in mid push. Liam was sweating and breathing quickly as he looked over and saw that Scott had stopped him.

"Liam, calm down," Scott told him.

Behind Scott, stood Mason, who was looking at him with a stern expression on his face.

"Still think you don't need my help?" Mason said with a stiff tone.

Liam averted his gaze from him before turning his back to the both of them as he started to take deep breaths in order to settle his heart rate.

Scott looked over at Mason. "Uh, could you-"

"Yeah," Mason said before Scott could finish.

The freshman just huffed and started to walk off. Scott looked back over at Liam, who was breathing hard and looking religiously at his sneakers.

"Liam," Scott said to him. But the kid kept his gaze away. The Alpha could sense the anxiety and fear that pouring out of him. Scott then kneeled so that he was right beside him. "Liam, relax. Stiles said that you found your anchor, right?" The boy nodded quickly. "Well, what is it?"

"My…my stepdad," he said in a deep and rough tone. "His slogan. Play smart,"

"Not hard," Scott finished as he had remembered hearing it back at the hospital. Liam blinked a bit before nodding. "Okay, then concentrate Liam. Imagine him here instead of me. Imagine hearing his voice saying it to you."

Liam blew out a deep puff of air as he let his dad's voice come to him and heard him say the slogan. ' _Play smart, not hard'_. He kept hearing his stepdad's voice repeat it over and over in his head and his heart rate began to slow down and the pressure on his chest loosened.

After clearing his throat, Liam sighed. "I'm good. I'm okay," he breathed out. He rose himself up to show that he was relatively normal save for a slightly sweaty brow.

Scott could see that Liam's little breakdown at the weight bar was anything but good and okay. "Liam…look, I know things have been a little, insane, lately. And, if you're having second thoughts and don't want to be with us-"

But Liam shook his head. "No Scott, it's not that. I do want to be with you, that's the problem." He dropped his gaze a bit. "I don't deserve to be with you guys. With anyone."

Scott narrowed his eyes at him in confusion. "What are you talking about?" Liam kept his gaze away and Scott went to kneel beside him. "Liam, what's going on?" he lightly demanded.

"Last night…Stiles took me out into the woods for a run and, he brought me to this, really great spot.

"The creek," Scott cut in softly. He then remembered last night, the two of them coming close to clawing at each other. "You like learning from him?"

A ghost of a smile started to creep its way onto Liam. "Yeah, of course. Well, I mean, sometimes I don't get what he's saying. One time, he told me about how us controlling our wolf parts are like blind men and their help dogs. If you try to push the dog away when you don't need or don't want to be bothered by it then he'll bite you more than lead you. But care and treat him like he's truly a cherished part of you and not just a pest or thing to use and he'll protect and guard you with his life and hopefully never lead you into a wall or oncoming car." Scott rose his eye at that and Liam shrugged. "Yeah, honestly, I think he didn't really get it either." Scott let a small amused snort out at that. "But, still it helped a little I guess. And, the night before Garrett took me, Stiles came to my house and told me that being a werewolf could be rough but there were times when it could be great too. Last night, he took me out running, I shifted but he asked me to not rush to make it go away. He asked me to keep myself shifted and stayed shifted with me as we sat by the water. Relaxing there, faces shifted and with claws on our hands, glowing eyes, he made me feel, I don't know…actually normal."

"Normal," Scott mumbled to himself.

Liam nodded. "For the first time since…well since the doctors told me and my parents I was an anger driven freak." But then Liam's face fell. "But then-"

Scott could feel…shame coming from Liam. "What?"

He turned away. "Well, we got to talking and…he looked at me and called me a hero," he muttered softly. "Said that everyone, our friends and even Satomi's pack…I saved their lives and was their hero. For stopping the Deadpool."

Scott couldn't help but feel his heart warm a bit. "Well, he's not wrong."

"No, he is," Liam said, jumping to his feet so he looked down on him. "I'm not a hero Scott."

Now Scott never heard of something more ridiculous. "What are you talking about?"

The freshman quickly turned and walked a few paces away from him. "That night, when you dropped me off at my house, Stiles came to get me so that I wouldn't be alone. So I could be safe, and I went with him because I was scared of not being safe. He said I could help being with him, but…when I found the key, the one that shut the Deadpool down, I wasn't running to stop it. I was ready to run away. An assassin saw me and moved to kill me and I moved to get myself out of there. The only reason I didn't was because one of those assassins blocked the way out for me and aimed for me with his gun which made me to run back up to the room just to avoid getting shot. Everyone thinks I'm a hero but, I'm not. Not like all of you." Angry tears were leaking from him. Anger at himself. For those two nights, everyone else was fighting to protect themselves and each other, protect him, and he was only thinking of hiding and running. They all think he was a hero, when he was really a coward.

Scott moved over to him and took his shoulder. "Liam," he said simply. "Hey, look at me," Scott said softly. Liam turned slowly but it took real effort for him to move his eyes to meet Scott's. "It's okay Liam. You say that you wanted to run, it's okay. Back when I first turned, I actually did run." Memories of the Winter Formal coming back to him. "But, in the end, my friends made me run back. But, you didn't. You could've still tried to keep running, but when the time came, you didn't. You stayed with Stiles and the others from start to finish to help stop the Deadpool. I'm no hero, even if everyone says I am. I'm just a guy that wants to graduate high school with my friends. But you are. So, don't run from your friends Liam, ever. Heroes don't do that."

Scott moved to leave Liam with that thought but Liam stopped him.

"Stiles." That made Scott stop and look back at him. "After the hospital, I felt I was useless, for not being able to stop those Berserkers. But Stiles, he tried to tell me that I wasn't, like you just did. I get why you're best friends," Liam said with a soft look in his eyes.

Scott's gaze dropped a bit, and it took so much effort to manage a hint of a smile.

* * *

Lydia was sitting out in the courtyard after school, doing her homework as everyone around her started to head on home if they weren't staying. Malia was off with Stiles and Kira had gone home to try and get ready for her date with Scott. As for Lydia, she couldn't leave without her mom and she had to stay and work on looking over homework and getting tests prepared for next week. But, Lydia didn't mind. She confidently sat there, working, and her poise even made a few passerby's ogle her for a bit though Lydia didn't care much for it. Yet, she suddenly felt a small tingle in the back of her neck and looked out towards the direction of the main entrance. She packed her stuff and started to walk off and found, in front of the school, was a familiar deputy and he seemed to be waiting. His face lit up at the sight of her and Lydia just sighed and but walked over to him with a small grin on her face just the same.

"What brings you here Deputy Parrish?" she asked as if she didn't already know.

"Uh, well, I just got off duty and decided to check up on you and see how you're doing, after last night."

"I'm okay," she shrugged.

His face went a little softer. "You sure?"

"Yeah," she said in the same calm tone. "It's actually not the first time I've gone off in the middle of the night and found myself somewhere else." That didn't seem to make the deputy feel relief. "Really, I'm fine."

He nodded. "Well, how about I give you a lift?"

"Uh, sure. Let me just text my mom to let her know I got a ride." Her mother had insisted that they ride off to school together this morning. After she sent the text, she then went off and followed after Parrish as they went over to his squad car. It was silent the entire time that he had driven them over to her house. They pulled in but Lydia just sat there, and she saw that Parrish was silently staring off at his fingers that were still gripping the steering wheel. This silence felt a little awkward and after a few minutes of it, Lydia moved to break it. "Uh, I never got to thank you for last night Parrish."

"It was nothing. And Lydia, you can call me Jordan." He gave her a timid smile.

Lydia's face softened. "Jordan…uh, when you brought me back, my mother told me that you had actually come along before, asking for me." Lydia gave him a pointed look. "Why did you want to see me?"

He sighed. "Well, Stilinski had told me that as smart as his son was when it came to all of this, you were smarter." Lydia raised her eyes at him. "So, I was hoping you could help me."

"Help you? How?"

Jordan paused for a moment before he cleared his throat. "With, trying to find out what it is I am. But, if you don't think you can help me, then I can understand," he quickly added.

Lydia narrowed her eyes. "Actually, maybe I can."

* * *

Scott had rushed over to the loft right after school so that he could set up for his date with Kira. He would've waited after school for Stiles to help him with some things he could do for his date but, things were still a little on edge with them. Maybe all they needed was just a little space to breathe. And…Scott didn't want to talk to Stiles right now as he would start to think all about the whole 'Second' thing. He got to the loft and found that Derek was almost about to head out. He had asked Derek if he could use his loft for his date and Derek decided to let him and promised that he and Braeden would be gone to give them all the 'privacy' they needed. Scott was thinking of fixing up some kind of surprise because he wanted to make their first official date night special. He asked if Derek wouldn't mind having the loft decorated a bit but promised that he would clean it up after he was done. Derek said it was okay and while Scott moved to clean the main room up, Derek thought there might be some lights and other things from that party thrown at his place left behind that he could use and decided to help him before heading out.

Derek began moving through the stacks of boxes in his storage when he came upon a marked white box. "Whoa, I forgot all about this," he mumbled as he pulled it out.

This box had been given to him by Stilinski last year, back when Scott and Stiles had gotten him arrested when they first met. To be free, he told them that he had been checking in on his sister after she hadn't checked in with him as she said she would. Stilinski had checked her credit card history and found the motel that she had been staying and found her stuff to validate his story. He had gathered them for evidence but then given them back when everything checked out. He had forgotten that he had stashed them away when he had purchased the loft. He remembered he just gave them a small look through when he was looking for clues but hadn't found anything so he just pushed them to the side. He looked and found Laura's clothes and her favorite necklace. He ran his fingers across them delicately. Maybe Cora would like to have them?

"Derek?" He turned around to see Scott walking in. His expression was soft. "You okay?"

Derek guessed that Scott was feeling some of the sadness and anxiety he was feeling as he looked through his sister's things. "Uh, yeah. I'm okay." Scott nodded though he could tell that Derek was lying even without hearing his heart. Derek cleared his throat. "Listen, I found some lights."

"Oh, great."

While Scott went on to look through them, Derek continued digging in Laura's box and found the leather pocketbook that Maggie had given to Laura as a graduation present. There were some basic things in there like some makeup, a brush, a small box of mints, her wallet and the keys from their old place back in New York. But, he found something stuck a little in the lining. He pulled it out to see that it was a hand drawn picture.

"I remember this," he mumbled to himself. He had seen it a few times in Laura's room as it had been tacked to the door of her cabinet.

Scott had heard Derek and saw him staring at something. "What is that?" he asked as he moved over.

"Just some doodle that my sister had. Said that a little boy gave it to her before we had left Beacon Hills." He moved to show it to him. "I can't believe she took it with her from New York."

Scott looked and saw that it looked like it had been done with colored pencils. And it seemed like it had a good few years on it and had creases like it had been folded up to fit in a pocket. It was one of a ship in the middle of high looking waves. His eyes flew off to some black letters written on the side of the ship. "S. S. Mischief," he mumbled.

Derek looked over at the expression on Scott's face. It looked like that rang a bell. "Scott, what is it?"

Scott shook his head. "Oh, it's nothing."

But it wasn't nothing. S. S. Mischief. That vaguely brought back some memories of a time that felt like another lifetime ago. What did it mean?

* * *

Liam was sitting in his room, trying to keep relaxed before the game by playing some video games. His face was blank as he played but his head snapped up when something landed over next to him. It was a video game and he looked up to see that Mason was standing by the door.

"Can I come in?" Liam just paused his game and set the controller down. "I guess I'll take that as 'Sure Mason, come right on in', but if it's not then I'm going to want that game back." Mason took a step inside and saw that Liam was trying to not make eye contact. Mason could see that his friend didn't feel like talking. "Liam, look man, I know you've been going through some things. And somehow, that mess back at the bonfire and what happened earlier today is a part of it. And, for whatever reason, Scott, Stiles, and their friends are a part of it. But, you're still _my_ best friend." He then moved to sit beside him but Liam kept himself from still looking at him. "And considering that my last good friend turned out to be a professional killer, I'm thinking that I don't have too many options for new ones. Now, I get that you feel like you can't tell me what's going on, at least not yet. But, you don't have to worry. I'm not going to try and force you to tell me but I want you to know that you can tell me. Just make sure that when you do, you don't treat me like an idiot. Tell me everything and only everything. For now, scooch over. I'm sure that I can destroy your lame ass in one of these before the game," he finished sternly.

Liam kept himself silent at he stared at his controller through the whole thing. He then slowly looked over at the game Mason threw at him and took it in his hands. He gave it a look before he shrugged. "Never played this one," he mumbled as he looked calmly at his friend.

Mason narrowed his eyes playfully at him as he moved to grab a controller for himself and Liam popped it in.

* * *

Lydia was scrolling down pages of Archaic Latin with images popping up now and again. She was in her room, sitting at her computer with Jordan kneeling off to the side as he was gently petting Lydia's dog Prada. She looked over to see Prada leaning into his touch and let a content purr.

"Seems Prada likes you. He usually doesn't like strangers."

Jordan shrugged. "I've always had a way with dogs. Worked with them during bomb disposal training."

"Seems you have a way with werewolves too." As soon as they met him, her werewolf friends seemed to instantly like him. Derek seemed to warm to Parrish during his freakout when he was going through the whole teen regression thing. Stiles thought that Parrish was cool and seemed to come to trust him, which she knew he didn't seem to do so quickly. And Scott, well, he's Scott so he takes to just about anyone.

"Yeah, who would've guessed," he said as he left Prada and moved to go and stand next to her at the computer. "So, this is the bestiary that you guys were talking about before?" he asked as he leaned in to look at the passing pages that Lydia was scrolling down.

"This is it," Lydia said as she kept her eyes on the screen. "It's basically a record of everything supernatural, well, anything supernatural that the Argents managed to come across."

"Oh. Did you come across anything about, things," he said not finding a better word for it. "That revolve around fire. You know, like an Ifrit or Phoenix?" Lydia turned to look over at him. "I've been doing some reading."

Lydia felt a smile creep up on her. She realized she was staring and turned back to the screen. "Yeah, but those don't really have concrete facts, just stories or legends. There's quite a few things listed in here that are like that. I don't think the Argents actually came across everything listed here but only heard or tried to study them."

Jordan let his eyes fall on an image of what looked like a giant bird standing on two clawed hind feet. He wondered if the hunters actually had run something that did look like that artist rendering before, or if it was just an embellishment. He could see the words and passages weren't in English. The Archaic Latin looked like complete gibberish to his eyes. "And you could actually read what it says?"

"Exactly," she simply said as she kept scrolling down and let her eyes go down the passages one by one.

Jordan looked at the thumb drive that was inserted into the port. "How did you get this?"

"Argent loaned it to me the other day. He just came over and gave it to me and told me make a backup to keep for myself. He thought it might be a good idea to have our own copy around in case anything happened. So far I've copied and translated around a quarter of it. If we're going to find whatever it is you are, it's a good bet that it's here."

"Uh, what about banshees? Have you found anything about that in there?"

She sighed. "I did but, that's one of the things that falls under stories and legends with not a lot of actual facts to go with."

"So, last night, what happened to you, that wouldn't be in here?"

She sighed. "No." She then caught his eye. "What about you? Last night, how did you find me?"

"I…I don't know. All of a sudden, in the back of head, I just heard some faint screaming and felt some kind of pull. I followed it and found you at Derek's loft." He went to pull in a chair close by and sat next to her.

Lydia was stuck in a frozen stare. "But, you don't hear anything you know you can't, right?"

He shook his head. "No."

"Rules out enhanced hearing then. Okay…so other than the fact that you were covered in gasoline and set on fire and came out of it without a scratch, what else is there?"

Jordan's face then fell a bit. "Uh, well, there's really not much else than that. I mean, I don't grow fangs and claws like your friends do."

She narrowed her eyes. "What about your eyes?"

"My eyes? You mean, do they glow?" Jordan then thought back to Scott and Stiles. "I don't know. If they have then I wouldn't know. How can we be sure? How do your werewolf friends do it?"

"They trigger it," Lydia said before she stiffened. "Or it gets triggered," she whispered to herself.

Before either one of them knew it, Jordan was turning a lighter around in his hands.

"You sure this will work?" he asked her.

"Well, it worked with Kira. She's not a werewolf but whenever she had touched electricity, it triggered her eyes. She's a thunder kitsune. She's tied to electricity."

"And I'm somehow tied to fire," Jordan finished.

Lydia nodded as she went and took the lighter from him. She then flicked it and brought the flame out. Jordan let himself stare at it before he slowly placed his palm over it. Lydia and Jordan's eyes kept their eyes locked on each other. They didn't see the flame as it slowly kissed the skin of his palm. Jordan didn't blink as the heat built up on him, yet, he didn't feel hot. But he did feel a…tingle. It traveled from his hand, to his shoulder, to his head. His eyes slowly lit up and Lydia's eyes focused on the orange glow they now had.

As Lydia stared into the glow, her ears began ringing. She heard a voice crawling out. A familiar voice. "Deaton," she gasped.

As for Jordan, staring into the vacant look that has come over Lydia's face, he suddenly saw a man bleeding in a dark tunnel.

"He's dying," he breathed.

They then broke away from each other and were both breathing a little faster than normal. They both looked off towards the window. They had places they knew they had to be. People needed them.

* * *

Stiles was sitting by his window while Malia was lying on his bed, looking over Lydia's notes. They had gone to his house to study together like they had before their 'small reprieve' a week ago. Stiles was taking a little break as he calmly looked at the view outside of his window. He was holding the necklace that Argent had given him, his fingers grazing over the shield and arrow pendant. His eyes drifted to the scattered trees by the houses swaying in the light wind to the nearly full moon shining overhead to try and let it calm him down but as helpful as he would've liked. So many thoughts were flying through his mind all at once, and it was making him a little anxious. So anxious, that Malia could smell it coming off of him easily.

"Stiles?" she said making him look over at her. "You okay?"

He shrugged. "Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

But before anything else could be said, there was a knock at the open door.

"Knock, knock," Stiles' father said as he stood at the door, smiling at his son and his girlfriend.

He stepped in but right behind him stood Malia's father.

Malia went to sit at the edge of the bed at the sight of him. "Dad?"

"Hey kids," he said with a nod.

Stiles moved to pocket the necklace. "Is something wrong?"

"Uh, no," Mr. Tate told him. "I just got a call from the school. They say that Malia is on her way to moving onto senior year. I can only guess who helped her do that and wanted to show my gratitude by coming and seeing him play in his first official game of the season," he said giving Stiles a pointed but light look.

Stiles shrugged. "It was nothing."

"No, it was a lot more than nothing," Malia chipped in fondly.

Stiles ducked his head a bit at the praise on Malia's face. His father gave him a proud smirk.

"Well, that settles it. We have to celebrate. I'm treating everyone to dinner, whatever you want," he said pointing to Malia. "My treat, I insist."

Stiles then scratched his head. "Uh dad, I don't think it's a good idea for a man in debt to make such a promise."

"Well, would it be a better idea if there were more than one thing to celebrate?"

Stiles straightened himself up from where he sat. "What do you mean?"

"You see, Henry wasn't the only one that got a call. So did I, and a letter. From Eichen House," he said pulling it out.

Stiles sighed as he quickly deflated at the mention of the place that they were heavily indebted to. "Another final notice?' he glumly guessed.

But his father wasn't looking glum but calm as he shook his head. "No. It turns out, that having one of their best orderlies turn out to be a psycho killer looks bad on their establishment. Especially when he nearly kills a former patient. So, to try and make sure there's no hard feelings, they decided to forgive our debt." As Noah handed his son the letter, he could hear a small snort coming from Henry's direction. He was eager to follow the man's example. He knew the only reason that Eichen House would be so generous was to make sure that they didn't get sued and end up paying the Stilinski's more than they owe.

Stiles let out a gasp as he read through the letter. "Wow, I've never been so happy to have had someone try to have me killed."

Noah rolled his eyes. "Wait son, remember, that was just the letter. About an hour ago, I got a call from the mayor's office. Turns out, some of those men you three caught at the lake house were linked to quite a few unsolved federal cases. They were able to track them back to some of their associates and arrested a lot of them. From the sound of it, it sounds like these guys might be some of the assassins that attacked Scott, Derek and the others but had got away."

Henry folded his arms. "Oh, well that's some real good news." He was happy to hear that they grabbed more of the people that wanted to kill his daughter and her friends.

"Gets even better actually," Noah continued. "The station got a great deal of the credit for finding them and got a donation of 75 grand. The mayor decided to give all the officers a bonus to celebrate."

Stiles' jaw dropped. "What? That's…that's incredible." Stiles laughed out before he moved to go and wrap his father in a hug. Malia smiled fondly at the two of them before her gaze moved over to her dad. He was giving her a side grin which she returned. Stiles pulled away from the hug. "Wait, so, what does this mean? Are we okay now?"

Chris' smile flattened a bit but he still had a good grin on. "Well, the bonus doesn't completely cover the MRI, but, without the Eichen House debt, we'll pull through it." Stiles let a relieved sigh out. "For the moment, I can definitely afford to take my son, his girlfriend and her father all out to dinner."

Henry shook his head. "No, that's okay, you don't have to Sheriff."

But Noah wasn't having it. "Henry, I insist." His tone made it clear that he wasn't taking no for an answer and Henry visibly surrendered. He then turned back to the kids. "So, what do you want to eat tonight? Malia, what's your favorite food?"

"Deer," she cheerfully threw in longingly.

Noah and Henry raised their eyebrows at that one while Stiles tried to fight a small laugh at their fathers' reactions.

"Uh, well, deer does kind of taste a bit like beef," Stiles threw in. "Let's go for that."

"And how exactly would you know that?" his father asked.

"Eh, you don't want to know," Stiles said before he went to share a look with Malia.

"Well, I know this Grill that serves the best beef dishes in town," Henry pitched.

"Perfect," Noah said before he and Henry led the way out of the room.

Stiles grabbing Malia's hand as they walked after them.

* * *

Scott went to pick Kira up and brought her to the loft. It was quiet, and dark.

Kira turned over at Scott with a bit of confusion on her face. "Uh, it doesn't look like Derek is home."

Scott was smiling at her. "He's not."

Kira now smiled back, though it was from nervousness. "Then, why did we stop here first?" Scott grabbed her and brought her deeper inside. "Uh, it's kind of dark in here. Can you turn on the lights?"

"Actually, I need you to do that," he told her with the smile still on his face.

Kira went and grabbed the bulb, where her fox fire lit it up and it was quickly followed by the other lights that Scott had set up around the loft. It made a bit of a starry effect inside the loft with the dim light of the nearly full moon shining out through the window. Kira's face lit up just as much as the light bulbs from the set up.

Scott noticed her expression but couldn't help but ask anyway. "Did I do okay?"

"For our first real date, it's a start," she playfully teased before she leaned in to give him a small kiss.

"Uh, did you bring the movie?" he asked when they separated.

Kira nodded. "Yeah," she said as she reached into her bag and pulled out a DVD. "Lydia loaned me one of her movies. Said it was perfect for any date night."

"What is it?" Scott asked as he moved over to the laptop that was set up at the couch.

"The Notebook," she said. "Seen it?"

"Uh, actually no." Romantic dramas never were his kind of movies. He usually liked action films and comedies.

"Oh, well…actually, neither have I," she admitted. "She said I would like it," she added hesitantly.

"Well, let's put it in and see." Scott then put it in and started the movie up.

They got through the first ten minutes when Kira just shut the computer down. "You know what, let's just forget the movie." She looked over to see Scott's amused face before they both leaned in to get back to their earlier kissing.

It was sweet, slow and pleasant. They just calmly sat there and lightly held each other as their tongues lightly tickled and teased against one another's. They went on for about a minute before their hands started moving for their clothes. Kira moved to open some buttons in Scott's shirt and Kira sat up straighter for Scott to better remove her leather jacket. They playfully made out for a bit and were getting ready to let themselves move a bit farther than they had ever gone when Scott just froze.

"Wait," he said as he moved her to sit at his side.

Kira saw the worried look on his face. "Scott? What's wrong?"

"Something's here," he muttered.

Scott's hearing picked up a sound that was a lot like…growling. It was coming from behind the door. Scott stood up just in time for a crash to come in behind them. The window had shattered as Kate flew into the loft, fully shifted and growling. Two more giant figures burst in behind her at either side, her Berserkers. They let out low growls as they stood straight up to display their full, intimidating height.

Kate let her eyes scan the way the room was set up and how the two teens were before her entrance. "Oh, how cute," she grunted through her teeth.

Scott quickly moved to grab Kira so that they could make a break for it but the door was thrown wide open as a third Berserker started to make it's way in. They were trapped. Kira quickly jumped up and grabbed a light bulb and threw it for the nearest Berserker and it shattered against it's skull without giving off a flinch. The one across it began to move at Kate's subconscious command to go for Kira. Scott quickly moved to defend her, as she didn't have her sword to fight and defend herself, but was taken surprise by the Berserker that had blocked the door. It snuck up behind him and thrust one of it's bone claws into his side. Scott grit his teeth in pain and the Berserker grabbed him and threw him across the room.

"Scott!" Kira cried.

But a growl sounded and she started to duck away from one of the Berserkers stomping at her. Right into Kate Argent's path and she moved and sent a hard kick that sent her flying off into a gate. Kira flinched from the pain but noticed a chain hanging off beside her. It wasn't her sword but it was something. She grabbed it and got to her feet, swinging the chain around in front of her, the scared and frightened look disappearing as she displayed her skill.

Kate was watching with a smirk on her face. "Adorable but tough," she muttered. She then turned to Scott, who was still groaning slightly on the floor. "She's just like Allison, wouldn't you say? I can see why you fell for her."

At that, the Berserker charged in and Kira started to whack at it. Swinging to make sure the end hit every exposed part of the beast's body that his bone armor left exposed. Scott pushed pain he was feeling down as much as he could as he threw himself to his feet and went at Kate. Kate dodged his first hit and Scott quickly went to send a kick at her feet but Kate jumped up on the table by the couch to avoid it. Scott jumped after her and narrowly avoided a claw to the head. Kate quickly sent a punch into his side but Scott responded with a kick that knocked her off balance and forced her to jump off the table. Scott jumped off after her and Kate had to duck to avoid his attack as he went into the air at her. They sent strikes at one another, only managing to graze each other every other hit. Kira hits weren't having too much effect on the Berserker and seemed to only be infuriating it. She moved off to the side and thrust the chain for it's arm but it managed to catch in and get a tight grip. Kira tried to pull the chain free but it pulled on it instead and made her start to fall towards it. When she was right at its face, it went and sent a hard backhand to her face, making her collapse to the ground. Scott panicked when he saw it and blindly threw a punch for Kate but she caught it and struck him at the chest, forcing him back into a pillar. Scott tried to force himself forward but Kate grabbed and threw him back to the pillar. She struck at him, where he had been wounded and pulled him forward before throwing him right back to hit the thing. Scott groaned harshly as the pain shot through him and then dropped to the floor in a crouched slump. He looked over to see that the Berserker had grabbed Kira and was holding her up by her hair, completely helpless. Kira was at Kate's mercy and Scott knew that he couldn't give her any reasons to kill her.

"What do you want from us?" Scott hissed out.

"I want a bit of insight Scott," Kate told him.

"To what?"

"My family," she answered. "The Argent family has been around for 400 years. A powerful, wealthy, aristocratic family of werewolf hunters. But, in less than a year, that family is decimated. By teenagers no less." She then leaned in closer to him. "Scott McCall, the tragically adorable baby werewolf that defeated my father, the Great Gerard Argent, and turned our final generation against the tradition all by batting his sad little puppy dog eyes at her." Saying that earned her a glare from Scott. "And then there's his good buddy Stiles Stilinski who, one by one, took on and took out most of our allies and proteges. Including my poor niece," she growled through her fangs. "He even managed to finish off what was left half a week ago."

Scott shook his head. "What are you talking about?"

But Kate just straightened herself up. "See, my family and old friends aren't even worth being front page news anymore. But what no one can't shut up about, is the fact that you go and become an Alpha and come out on top of an Alpha Pack. And now there's talk of how a small army of assassins and hunters goes to handle your buddy and he is the one that ends up still standing in one piece. So, I just got to know, what the hell makes you both so damn special?"

Scott just glared at her. "Look, you have me, okay. Just let her go and leave everyone else alone. Take me."

Kate snorted at him. "Oh, as much as I want you sweetie, I want Stiles a hell of a lot more. But, that little shit is still too alert from all that Deadpool crap to get the drop on, so, you had to be first. But, don't worry, there's still someone that wants you just as much."

Scott's eyes widened. "What?"

"Don't worry, he'll be waiting. I hope you and your foxy girlfriend know all your prayers Scott. We're going to church!" she announced joyously. She then went and roared at Scott's face.

* * *

Chris was still lagging where he stood as the metal spike was stuck tight in him. It must've been hours since Chris had been stabbed and he had been careful to keep himself still so as not to jar his body and cause more damage from that spike. His hand wasn't leaving his side as he tried to stem the bleeding as best as he could. The injection he had given himself before coming down here had worn off and he was starting to feel the pain building. Every muscle spasm sent a surge of pain through his body that made him want to pass out. Every minute felt like an hour and he felt himself getting more tired as they passed. A small dripping sound made his head turn slightly. There was a small puddle at the side slowly building, drop by drop. He couldn't help but let out a tired chuckle, which sent a sting of pain right to him. He couldn't help but find the karma funny. The irony too. He guessed he was starting to get delusional which is why he didn't believe someone with a light was actually coming over at first. When they got closer, he saw it was the Sheriff's unknown supernatural deputy.

"Parrish?" he muttered. He saw that he checking that the coast was clear. "They're gone."

Jordan looked over at the impaled spike and the gathering pool of blood. "How long have you been like this?"

"I've lost track of time."

Jordan's jaw stiffened as he pocketed his gun. "Peter Hale did this, didn't he?"

Chris looked him in the eye. "You've been following him?"

"I was, ever since Meredith, but no, not today."

"Then how do you know it was him?"

"I…I just know." He didn't know how, but Jordan knew it was him. "I'm getting you out of here."

Chris shook his head. "He's after Scott. And Stiles. He's with Kate. You have to warn them."

Now Jordan shook his head. "I can't. There's no service down here."

"Then just go."

"No." From what he could see, Chris was on the verge of bleeding to death. "If I leave you now you'll be dead by the time I get back. We're getting you out of here." Jordan moved to try and pull the spike free but it wasn't really budging. He wasn't strong enough and the attempted effort was causing Chris to scream loudly in excruciating pain. Jordan pulled his hands away as they were now covered in his blood. "I'm sorry," he cried to him. He started to puff out in exhaustion. "I can't do it myself. It's not bending back and it's not coming out of the wall."

"Leave," Chris barely breathed out.

Jordan straightened himself back up. "I can't do that either." He wasn't going to abandon someone who was hurt and dying. "I need you to help me. I know that you're hurt and you're tired, but I need you to gather everything you've got and help me."

But Chris shook his head. "I've got nothing."

"Grab the bar," Jordan told him.

Chris lifted his head. "I've got nothing left. Just go, you're running out of time."

But Jordan knew that it was Chris that was running out of time. "You know what you need, adrenaline. There's two ways to get it: Fear and Anger. So, since you don't look like a guy that's afraid of anything, you need to get angry. You need to get so angry that your brain lets loose every bit of adrenaline it has left."

"I'm too tired," Chris said simply.

Jordan let his shoulders slag. "Alright, I'll admit that I don't know much about you. Or what you've been through, but Lydia told me some of it. And I know about Allison. I know how she felt about Scott and I know what happened between her and Stiles. So, I know that if she knew what was happening, she would tell you to get angry. At least angry enough one more time to get the hell out of here. So whatever trigger you need, whether it's Allison, your sister, Peter, whatever it is, use it! Use it right now!"

Chris let himself remember the night he saw Allison kissing Scott in front of the Hale House. Remember handing Stiles Allison's pendant. Remember Allison telling him that she loved him the night she made her silver arrowhead. He then moved his hand to the spike and he nodded to Parrish. They then moved to pull on the spike, together. He screamed, but not just in pain. In pain, and anger.

Jordan pulled on the spike, with everything he had. His eyes glowing a bright reddish orange as he did to the sound of Chris' screams. It then snapped loose.

* * *

Melissa McCall was checking her bag as she checked to see she had everything before heading off to the school to catch the lacrosse game. It was her son and his friends' first official game of the season and she was going to catch a ride with Liam's stepfather so they could go together.

"Melissa."

She looked up and saw him moving for him, dressed in his casual clothes.

"Oh good. We'll make it with plenty of time-"

But he cut her off. "Melissa," he said. "Something's come up."

She stiffened. "What?"

"The board. They've called a meeting."

She sighed. "You can't go," she realized.

He nodded. "They want me there."

"Oh, well, I can call Scott and maybe he could pick me up on his way-"

She got cut off again. "Melissa, they just don't want me there. They've asked for you too."

She froze. "Why?"

* * *

Stiles and Liam walked on into the locker room together where there already were a good few members of the team getting ready for the upcoming game. Liam was taking deep, winded breaths before he moved to start getting his gear on.

Stiles paused in the middle of unloading his own gear. "Liam, you okay?"

He nodded. "Yeah, I'm just, a little nervous."

"Hey," Stiles said moving for him. "If you feel like you can't-"

"No, I can. It's just…a bit harder than I thought." Liam shook his head and took a deep breath. "Besides, my mom and stepdad are coming to watch me play with my new team, and my new friends."

Stiles sighed. "It's good that you're trying to be calm, just don't be overconfident. Remember what happened last time we played Devenford Prep."

"But, now I have my anchor, and you, Scott and Kira." He then blinked and noticed that they weren't there yet. "Hey, where are Scott and Kira?"

"Oh, I got a text from Scott while I was at dinner. He and Kira might be a little late. They kind of went off and-" He left it at that. Liam's eyes widened and gave an understanding nod.

"How late is a little late? This time it's an actual game with Devenford. They shouldn't be late," Liam said to him getting a little jumpy which made Stiles hold his hand out to settle him down.

Coach Finstock was nearby and heard them. "Who shouldn't be late?"

That made the two of them look over and they sighed together. They could feel that this wouldn't go over well.

"Scott and Kira," said Liam.

"Might be slightly late," Stiles finished.

"Wha, uh, slightly late, is still late," he stammered out. "What are they doing?"

Stiles licked his lips nervously. "Uh…they're doing something that will make them slightly late." He hoped that would be enough to end this.

No such luck though.

"What could Scott and Kira be doing, right now, that's more important than playing in the first game?" Coach demanded.

Stiles and Liam just stared hard at him. Stiles could tell. The guy truly didn't have a clue.

"Oh Coach," Stiles sighed to him with sympathy.

Outside, the stands were starting to fill up with spectators. Mason moved to sit in the stands and he was joined by Brett's sister Lori who was ready to show her support for her brother and even give a cheer for Scott, Stiles, Kira and Liam. Malia was heading for the stands with Stiles' father, while her own father was off finding a restroom.

Stiles sat and looked over and smiled over at Malia as he saw her take a seat. She smiled back at him and he turned back to fasten the last of his pads in. Liam moved to sit with him.

"The game's about to start, and Scott and Kira are still not here," he said to Stiles. He looked out at the stands. "My stepdad's not here either. Where are they? We need them here."

Stiles held his hand up. "Whoa, Liam. You're scared." The older werewolf could smell it starting to build up. "Of what? The full moon? It isn't for another day."

"I know," he gasped out. "I'm fine."

"Look up," Stiles told him. Both of them looked up at the near full moon at the sky. Liam moved to turn away but Stiles moved to grab his shoulder. "Keep looking," Stiles said to him a bit sternly. "Liam, relax, and concentrate."

Liam kept his gaze at it, a faint glow beginning to shine through. He tried to picture his father's voice saying his motto to him. His breathing increased. Trying to focus on his stepfather, reminded him that he wasn't here even though he promised. But then he felt Stiles' hand on his shoulder getting firmer as he squeezed it. Liam suddenly felt himself able to hear his stepdad's voice and he heart started to slow and the yellow glow from his eyes slowly fizzled out as he kept them locked on the moon.

He turned back to Stiles and nodded. "I'm okay."

Stiles nodded to him before reaching for his phone.

"Son?" Stiles looked up to see his dad standing there. "Everything okay?" he asked him before looking over at Liam.

Stiles looked over to see that Liam was just sitting there and letting his eyes wander as he kept himself calm. "I think so."

"See Scott and Kira yet?"

"No, Scott texted they would be 'late'," he said stressing that last word.

Unlike Coach, his dad got it right away. "Gotcha."

Malia was calmly sitting in the stands when someone went to sit with her. She turned and smiled, expecting her dad, but frowned when she saw that it was Peter, her father.

"So, who do you think is going to win?"

She huffed out impatiently as she looked away from him. "I told you not to come here."

"You want to have a clandestine meeting, you need to choose a clandestine location."

"After what happened with you and Meredith, I'm sure that I can do without any kind of father-daughter time."

"What about mother-daughter time? I found our Desert Wolf."

She looked back at him. "You mean Corrine?"

"Oh, you found out her name, good for you," he said with some amusement.

"Is she, really my mother?"

His jaw tightened a bit before he breathed, "Yes. And I know where she is. But, you're going to have to do something for me. Something that comes naturally to you for a very long time."

"Do you always have to get something in return?"

"When it's not something I can do on my own, yes," he said without batting an eye.

Malia started really thinking. Stiles, his dad, and her adoptive dad were helping her to try and piece together the mystery of her mother for her, and were doing it without any strings attached but it was slow going and looked like it would take some time. If Peter really knew where she was, she could find her right now. And she wanted to find her.

"What do you want?" she sighed out.

"I want you to kill Kate Argent."

"Malia?" a new voice said.

The two of them looked up to see Henry there. He was staring at them both with a look of concern.

Peter gave the man a dry look. "Tate."

Henry huffed out through his nose. "Hale," he said back.

Peter looked back at Malia. "Your boyfriend, I'll be rooting for him and his team," he said with a ghost of a smile before he got up and went off.

Henry watched the man go off before he went to sit next to Malia. "What did he want?"

She shook her head as she stared after Peter. "Honestly, I don't know."

At the bench, Liam looked over and spotted the Devenford team. He quickly spotted Brett who was stretching but the guy looked over and locked eyes with him and stopped. They stared at each other for a moment before Brett looked away when he was tapped by one of his teammates. "If Scott and Kira don't come back in time, you think we'll be okay."

Stiles shrugged as he nodded at his dad as he went to join Malia and her dad back at the stands. "Yeah. I'm not worried."

Liam rose an eyebrow at him. "You're not. Even a little bit?"

"No," he said confidently. Liam looked at him doubtfully and Stiles rolled his eyes. "Okay, I'm mildly concerned. Mildly. But we still have them." He looked over at their teammates. "They may not be like us but they've practiced hard and want to beat Devenford as badly as we do." He smiled at Liam. "They can handle it."

Five minutes after the starting whistle blew, one of their team members was passed the ball but ran right into two Devenford players and lost the ball to them and they went and scored a few seconds after. Devenford was leading 3 to 0.

Liam sighed as he walked over to Stiles. "You were saying."

Stiles jaw tightened and he nodded. "Now I say the two of us pick up the pace and step it up a notch. You up for it?"

Liam looked over at the Devenford team bumping each other in celebration. "Hell yeah," he breathed before he took off back to his position.

Stiles and Liam picked up the pace alright. They ran a bit faster and hit a bit harder than usual to try and make up some of the difference. Stiles pushed passed two Devenford players that were protecting their teammate with the ball, forcing him to run into one of Stiles' teammates who stole the ball and ran off to score a goal. Stiles managed to get the ball, run it down towards the goal before passing it over to Liam who then made a jump shot that the opposing goal keeper missed catching, scoring another goal. That made Mason jump into the air and give a hard victory howl. That made Liam look over to him and smile as Mason held a thumbs up to him before clapping. Liam went and ran in front of an opposing pass, catching the ball and passing it down to Stiles. He then ran around two players and made a shot that caused the net to make a loud whack when the ball went in.

In the stands, as Stiles went to score the latest goal, Noah and Malia jumped out of their seats in a standing ovation, screaming Stiles' name as Henry stayed seated between them. When they sat down, he turned his head between both of them.

"Excited much?" he asked them in amusement.

Malia just smiled while Noah just rolled his eyes at the man. He then felt his phone vibrating and looked to see that Derek was calling him. He excused himself so that he could go off and take the call where he could hear better.

The new momentum that Stiles and Liam had started, began building with their teammates. But Brett and his teammates weren't going to let themselves fall behind and they resolved to up their game too. Beacon Hills had the ball and the player that had it moved and gave a pass to a player who was being charged by Brett. He spotted Stiles at the corner of his eye and yelled his name as he threw it his way just before he got nailed. The ball soared and Stiles ran and extended his net and just managed to catch it. He ran down the field, pushing passed an opposing player to the crowd and Coach's excitement. He then moved and made the shot, hitting the goal net. He let out a hard shout, along with the crowd and the rest of the team. Stiles looked over to the stands and his eyes locked onto his father. But the expression on his face wasn't of happiness or excitement. He looked worried. His dad was moving for Coach and Stiles ran over for them. He came over to catch Coach starting to argue with him.

"Are you crazy Sheriff?! I can't pull one of my best players out now, not with the score still so damn close."

"I'm sorry Coach. Believe me, I understand but this really is an emergency. I wouldn't be asking if it wasn't."

"What's going on?" Stiles said as he got to them and ripped his helmet off.

His dad looked over to him. "I just got a call. Something's happened," he said pointedly. Stiles nodded to show that he understood. "We have to go."

"Okay," he told him.

"No," Coach burst in. "It's not okay."

"Coach," Stiles cut in. "I'm sorry but I have to. But you still have the rest of the team, and they can win, at least not make it easy for Devenford to win."

Coach narrowed his eyes at him before looking over at the others on the bench. They were looking at Coach with determination on all their faces. He then waved for them to go off.

Stiles looked over and saw that Liam was staring right at him. Stiles gave him a nod before he ran off with his dad.

With the match being neck and neck, and with not too much time left, the crowd was full of high emotions, releasing excess energy into the air. Energy that started to seep into Liam and make his own emotions start to heighten. Before the next play started, he looked over at the stands to see that his stepdad still wasn't there. He then remembered that Scott wasn't there either. Or Kira. And now Stiles was gone. He was alone now. He almost didn't hear his name called and looked over to see a teammate tossing the ball over to him. Liam caught it and was about to run down the field but froze. His eyes widened as he saw Berserkers running down the field along with the players. And, caught glimpses of masked and heavily armed men, assassins, mixed in as well, pointing their guns for him. His heart rate started to skyrocket and some distance away, Liam was close to lashing out at the closest person in his line of sight but was given a hard tackle at his blind side. Liam had fallen down and looked up to see Brett standing over him.

Mason tensed from his seat, but Lori reached over and grabbed him, telling him to relax.

"What the hell did you do that for?" Liam coughed out.

"You're afraid. I could smell it across the field. You're fine, aren't you?"

"Yeah," he grunted.

Brett took a step back. "Then get up, and play the damn game."

"Hey," the referee said as he came to them. "Is something wrong?" he demanded.

"Ask him," Brett told him.

The referee looked down at Liam. He took some deep breaths and stood back up. "Everything's fine. Let's play."

* * *

Lydia pulled her car up in front of the main gates of Eichen House. The echoes of the screaming of Deaton's calls had been growing louder the closer she had gotten to this place. She followed them right inside and it led her straight to his room without even having to ask where he even was. It was just like her fugue states, but for once, Lydia was in complete control. Had full awareness and knew where she was going and what she was doing. Any of the orderlies she came across, they tried to tell her that she couldn't go further but she just walked passed them with her confident, determined stride and they seemed unwilling to stop her. She arrived just as the doctor told a nurse that they had to move him.

"You're not taking him anywhere," she told them.

"Well, unless you're family, I don't think you can make that decision," he told her.

She stomped on in. "We're close enough. Let me talk to him."

"He's not responding to any stimuli," he tried to explain to her. "You could talk to him but there's no way of knowing if he hears us."

Lydia didn't budge. "Trust me on this. He'll hear me."

* * *

With the game over, Liam was sitting in the locker room, calmly trying to keep himself calm.

"You okay?"

He looked up to see Brett leaning against one of the lockers, with an easy look on his face.

"We lost," Liam huffed out.

"But you're okay," he pointed out.

"And it was close." Liam looked over and saw Brett's sister Lori. "You guys only lost by one point. It was actually a good game. Better than your last one," she said with a bit of a joking

Brett ducked his head as a chuckle escaped him and Liam couldn't help a small grin himself.

But Liam looked back at Brett. "Why did you do that? Why did you help me?"

"Because of Scott. He saved me, saved all of us. And Stiles too. He saved me and Lori."

Brett stopped there and Lori rolled her eyes. "And, you saved us too," she threw in as she gave her brother a hard look.

"Yeah…because you saved us too." He shook his head. "Do you realize just how lucky you are?"

"What do you mean?" asked Liam.

"Scott's a True Alpha. That means that he didn't get his powers because he was born with it. He didn't steal it by killing someone. He earned it. And, then there's Stiles. He's someone that will stop at nothing and stand against anything to make sure that everything and everyone he cares about is safe. And now, that includes you. I saw it during our last game when he stood up for you. Both of them."

Lori nodded. "Satomi, she told us about a special kind of strength. One that has nothing to do with being able to lift a lot of weight or running really fast. It's strength of character, being able to endure. And…they've endured so much. More than you could know."

Liam remembered the times when Scott wasn't scared to go through with almost dying and approaching him in the woods and Stiles quickly stepping forward in front of Liam to face down anyone that tried to hurt him. The strength and bravery they each had and he couldn't help a small grin coming to him.

Brett grinned too. "That's why they're so strong. You're lucky to have them."

Then he turned to leave but Lori moved to go to Liam and give him small peck on the cheek before following after her brother. Brett gave her a look before she pushed at his shoulder and told him to shut up.

Liam watched the siblings leave before his head dropped a bit. "Then why wasn't Scott here?" As if to answer his question. He had a mental flash of the dream he had this morning. A jaguar threatening him and four other animals with a blue eyed wolf being the first in its path. Then…something leaping for a red eyed wolf. "Scott," he mumbled.

* * *

Stiles and his father made it to loft to find Derek and Braeden there. The place was a complete mess with hanging lights, more than half broken and damage everywhere.

"What the hell happened?" Stiles gasped as he looked everywhere.

"It was supposed to be a date," Derek told them.

"They were both here?" Noah asked.

Braeden folded her arms. "And they're both gone." She looked over at Stiles.

He nodded. "Yeah. I can smell Kate's scent. Mixed with death. Her and her Berserkers."

"She has them," Derek mumbled.

"Where?" Noah asked.

Stiles felt his phone vibrate and he saw that it was Lydia. "Yeah?"

"Scott's been taken," she told him immediately.

"Yeah, Scott and Kira but we just don't know where," he told her.

"Mexico," said Deaton. "And, if you want to save his life, that's where you're going too."

At the Animal Clinic, Lydia moved to take Deaton's hand. Both to settle him, and herself.

* * *

Kira stirred awake and found herself in a dark space with only a little light shining through. She could barely see where she was but found that the ground had bones scattered around. She jumped to her feet to see that there were human skulls and skeletons surrounding her. This place was some kind of dungeon. And there seemed to be no way out. More than that, she was alone.

"Scott?" she cried out. She was scared that something happened to him. "Scott!"

Scott was laid out on an altar as he was starting to come to himself. He was being held by bonds and he found that he couldn't break them. He then noticed that there was herbs all around him. Wolfsbane. And two Berserkers were standing guard nearby.

Kate then started walking up to him casually. "So Scott, they ever teach you the myth of Artemus and Actaeon in school?" Scott was silent, looking at her nervously. She then went to tighten a restraint on his leg. "No, didn't think so. Artemus was a goddess, and Actaeon was a hunter who happened to see Artemus bathing naked one day." She moved to tighten the rest of his restraints, painfully. "Well, the goddess wasn't too happy. In fact, she was so angry that she turned Actaeon into a deer. And this sent his own hounds into a frenzy. He was actually turned apart by his own hunting dogs." She then went to pull out a skull mask. One that looked like those that her Berserkers were wearing.

"What are you doing?" he asked fearfully.

She laughed. "Relax, I'm not going to turn you into a deer. But, you are about to become something unrecognizable to your friends. They won't know what they're fighting. Or killing." Scott's eyes widened as he understood the skull in her hands. "Or, at the very least, one of them will." She chuckled with a gleam in her eye. "When he hears me say how I took my time, played with his best friend before, finally having my way with him, he won't let anything keep him from me. Not even a Berserker and which either kills him, or softens him enough for me to."

Scott knew what she was going to do. She wanted Scott to be attacked and killed by his pack. Specifically Stiles. She wanted for them to fight to the death.

"Kate, no! Stop! Don't! Kate don't!"

But she didn't listen. She just slowly went and placed the mask onto him through his screaming.


	25. Hale Plight

Chapter 25: Hale Plight

 _A little over a year ago…_

Laura Hale was happy to be back in Beacon Hills, back home. Around eight years and while the town had gone through some structural and rural changes, it still smelled and felt the same to her senses. She moved to unload her things at the local motel. She went through her bag and pulled out the image of the deer with the sign of vendetta carved into it. As she pulled it out, she saw the drawing of the S.S. Mischief. She smiled at it before she stuck in her pocketbook and then moved to head out.

She drove the rental car she got up to a certain house. She had checked and found the address online as she found that around six years later Beacon Hills still had Noah Stilinski as its Sheriff. She saw a blue colored jeep parked out front and saw that there was a teenager spraying it clean. She had a flash of memory of the boy who handed her the drawing at the station and could see him in this teenager. It was Stiles. He had grown tall, had very short hair and was gangly looking, dressed in simple jeans and a T-shirt underneath an open flannel button shirt. It was close to noon and she remembered that it was Winter Break so school was out which explained why he was home now instead of school on a Friday. She felt out and saw that he was home alone which meant his father, the Sheriff, must be out working. Stiles was humming to himself as he cleaned what was clearly his car.

"Roscoe," she heard him say as he was spraying the headlights with a hose. "You'll be spic and span and shining like new in no time. Everyone at school is going to love you," he said optimistically. "And if they don't, it's only because their jealous."

Laura raised her eyes at that one as she gave the jeep a good hard look. The Jeep was clearly old and didn't seem like much at all, most likely a hand me down. Not the kind of car that most teenagers would be happy with but he clearly cared and appreciated it like it was priceless. And, while some do go and give their cars a name, Roscoe? Really? Still, Laura couldn't help the smile starting to sneak up on her. She was happy see the boy she pegged all those years ago. She wondered about the other.

She drove away so she didn't see him stop and look at the spot that she had vacated for a moment before he shrugged and went back to cleaning his Jeep.

The very next place she went to was her home. All this time and the wreck still made the pain of losing her family hit her as fresh as the night it happened. Her once beautiful home just a burnt out husk of what it used to be and represent.

"Darla, James," she mumbled thinking of her cousin and her husband. Then their three children. "Tyler, Angela, Dylan," she sighed as their three young innocent faces popped up. Tyler and Dylan were human boys that should be in high school right now and Moira, Laura would never get the chance to go off and teach her the tricks of the trade like she had promised the little girl. Her precious cousins. "Ray, Janice," she then muttered as thoughts turned to her fellow beta and his wife who never got the chance to start a family of their own. "Stephanie." Her fellow beta whose articles she always read in the paper. "Craig. Billy," she uttered as she remembered her last fellow beta Craig and his little human brother. The names of all those who were lost that night. Then her mind fell on the last two. "Cora," as she shed a tear as she remembered her little sister's smiling face looking up at her with those dark but bright eyes every time they saw each other. And finally, the last person whose lost hit her the most. "Mom," she gasped. "I'm sorry that I've been away for so long. I couldn't stay, not after what had happened. I hope you can understand but I couldn't be what I was supposed to be. I wasn't ready. But…I'm ready now. I'll be the Alpha that you believed I could be. That Beacon Hills needs to be. I'm home."

She wanted to move closer and give the inside a look but stopped before she stepped on the porch. She was picking up a scent. It smelled like…a werewolf. And, the scent had been here recently, and more than one time. Someone had been coming to her family's house. She had to know who it was.

So, she headed off for the Animal Clinic. Whoever this was must tie in to the mark of vendetta appearing in town, maybe even be the one behind it, and if anyone had any sort of answers it would be Alan Deaton. She went to the clinic to see that it looked just like she remembered. It hadn't changed. She walked in and the door chimed to announce it. She could already hear some dogs barking along with some cats purring under their breath. Laura then heard someone approaching from the back.

"Hello, what can we do for you?"

Laura froze. It was a boy, but not just any boy. It was Stiles' friend. She remembered, his name was Scott. The other boy that she noticed and felt might be good to recruit to her pack one day. What was he doing here?

"Uh,"

Scott narrowed his eyes a bit at her. "Is there something wrong?" he asked her.

"Scott," said Deaton from behind as he came in. His eyes widened at the sight of her. "Oh, hello."

Laura waved. "Hi."

Deaton then turned to the boy. "Scott, I just remembered that I had a meeting scheduled early this afternoon. We'll be in my office. Could you finish with grooming Cecil and check that the others all have clean water?"

"Yeah, sure," the kid told him.

Deaton took Laura to her office and closed the door behind him as she moved to sit in a chair.

"Laura, it's good to see you," he said as he moved to sit in his own chair.

"You too Alan. You look great."

He smiled. "You've grown nicely." He looked her up and down. "You're nearly the spitting image of your mother."

"Thank you."

"When did you get back?"

"Early this morning."

"For a visit?"

She then leaned back into her chair. "No, not exactly. I'm coming back to Beacon Hills, well, taking it back actually. When I left, I was just a wounded kid, fresh out of high school and had a little brother to look after. I wasn't ready to be the Alpha for this town. But now…I am."

He leaned back himself. "And what kind of Alpha do you think you'll be?"

"Hopefully, one that my mother would've been proud of and future betas will be thankful for. An Alpha who follows the same code that kept our family and this town safe through the years. 'We're predators but we don't have to be killers. But we'll bear our teeth and claws on those that dare to prey on our pack and home." She recited the same full code that her mother told her the night before that fateful day. She saw Deaton was stuck in a daze as he looked at her and when she narrowed her eyes in confusion. "Something wrong?"

He blinked and settled himself. "No, it's just...for a moment, I thought I saw Talia in front of me. I'd say you're off to a good start already."

Laura brought her gaze down as she felt a sudden rush of emotion but she rose her head as she tried to stay on task. "Thank you Alan. You always seem to know just what to do or say and that's why I would like it if you became the emissary for my pack."

But Deaton shook his head. "Oh, I'm afraid that I've retired from that sort of work."

Laura rose her eyebrow disbelievingly. "Really? Then how do you explain the assistant you have working here?"

He shrugged. "Scott's a good kid and he loves working here."

She nodded. "Right, and I'm sure that me asking you to keep an eye on him and his friend Stiles before I left over six years ago had no part to play in you offering him a job since you never had one before."

He was silent for a moment before he cleared his throat. "Perhaps," he admitted. "He had a dog that he lost three years ago and offered him a job as a way to help him. I thought it both a good way to help as well as watch over him and his friend without anyone being the wiser about it."

"Well, I'd like to hear about how they've been doing all this time. And," She reached and pulled out the image of the deer with the mark carved into it. "Even talk about some other things as well."

It was over a half hour later when Laura finally left the room, she caught a glimpse of Scott in the next room. He had a bright smile on his face as helped a small puppy dog into a cage and was calmly petting its stomach. He was make soothing shushing sounds to him that seemed to make the dog fidgeting settle every passing second. Her face softened at the sight. Scott was a gentle soul. As he moved to check with the other ones, she could sense that he did enjoy working with the animals and seemed to have little problem getting them to cooperate for him.

He then noticed him staring. "Is everything alright?"

Laura guessed that Scott didn't seem to remember her. Well, honestly she shouldn't be surprised. He was only around nine when they last met and their meetings back then were brief. "Oh, yeah," she said shaking out of her stupor. "Everything's fine." She approached him. "Wow, these guys seem to like you."

He smiled. "Well, I like them so it works out fine on both ends," he said with a bit of a laugh. "Did everything work out okay with you and Mr. Deaton."

"Yeah. Everything went okay." Laura gave the cat he was currently petting a small content look. "It's Scott, right?"

"Yeah."

"Scott, if I remember right, school starts back up on Monday."

Scott's smile got wider. "Yeah, two days away."

Laura rose her eye at him at how eager that sounded. "You're actually happy about that?"

"Well, lacrosse tryouts start and I'm hoping to finally make first line. I've been practicing hard since the summer with my best friend to try and get in. I'm excited to see if I actually make it this year."

Lacrosse? That was new. Guess basketball wasn't the big sport around here anymore. Laura then caught something in what he had said. "You and your best friend?"

"Yeah. His name's Stiles. He's been trying to help me learn to try and play through my asthma. He's going to be trying out with me too. We got on the team last year but were on the bench the whole time, but not this time. I'm making it this year."

Laura felt his excitement and anticipation. "You really like lacrosse then."

"It's the best," He beamed. "And if I make it, maybe it'll help me get more noticed around school."

"You want to be popular?"

He smiled as he went to empty a small water bowl and refill it with clean water. "Well, yeah."

"What about your friend?"

"Stiles? Well, he doesn't really think we'll be off the bench this year like before. But since I, maybe, might possibly and conceivable actually have more than slim chance, that's more than enough for him to help me try to make it."

Laura rose her eyebrows at that. "What?"

"His actual words."

"Really?" He nodded. "And what about your other friends?"

"Ahh, it's just us."

"Oh. What about girlfriends? You look like a guy the girls can't help but notice."

He ducked his head. "No, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed this year. They always notice and love the lacrosse players."

"Oh, well good luck then. Maybe I'll catch a game at the school and if I do, I hope to see you and maybe your friend out there." She then started to back away. "I probably should get going."

"Okay, come and see us again," he happily called out after her.

She went back to her motel room and just laid out in her bed, staring at the ceiling. Seeing both the boys again on her first day back, feeling what she felt about each of them and from what Deaton said, it seemed that things were falling too good into place. It was almost like a sign, fate. Her instincts led her to those boys and her mother always told her to go with her instincts, if she felt strong enough about them. What were her instincts telling her right now?

With Scott. He kind of reminded her of Derek at that age though much happier and optimistic. Deaton told her that Scott was a good and hopeful kid who felt at home with the injured and sick as he grew up on waiting on his mother with after school shifts at the hospital before he had been offered a job at the clinic when he started junior high. Scott seemed to like to reach out to others, influenced by his nurse mother and working with Deaton. A boy with his level of heart could possibly help reach just about anyone given how those animals were ready to trust and submit to him. Scott seemed to fall under being a "lover" over a "fighter". He had the potential to be a very caring and dependable presence in a pack, not to mention would help him pull away from the limits that his asthma was setting for him. It looked like he had natural strength but his ailment was keeping him from truly using it. Without it, and with the extra benefits that came with being a werewolf, he could go far both on a personal level and interacting level. And be a good addition for the pack that she wanted to build.

Though, maybe turning him now wouldn't be the smart move. He was a kid and wanted what all kids wanted. Talking with him, she saw that Scott seemed content in concentrating on the hopes and the worries for boys his age. Making first line on the school team, wanting to be popular, have a girlfriend. He could do with having a bit more world experiences to develop his outlook of life. Scott sounded naively innocent in more ways than one and perhaps a little too immature. It seemed to look like he was somewhat ignorant when it came to the darker and harsher side of things. Deaton mentioned that his parents went and got divorced but he seemed adjusted to it so well, it might not have had that much of an imprint in his life. The bite was all about change, and it was a drastic one to his whole life. It would pull him away from things that usually fell under 'normal'. And given his current drive to be popular he might decide to try and use it to help get some attention which is something that werewolves shouldn't do. The sudden demands and changes might also make him come to be resentful of this life and could turn him as bitter as Derek seemed to have been turning after Paige. Laura wasn't changing her mind about Scott. She just felt that, first, a bit more growing up couldn't hurt the kid. Experience things like burden, disappointment, and heartbreak to help build empathy, wisdom and inner strength. She'd keep her eyes on him and, in a year or two, she would approach him with the offer of the bite, after he had time to grow out of this phase to have the stereotypical ideal high school experience. Even so, she wasn't sure he'd accept but she would be hopeful because she had a feeling that he could potentially be great.

And there's Stiles. Deaton mentioned that he had ADHD and often came out as weird, awkward or annoying to his peers. Yet, he was a bright and intelligent mind and often tried to think his way out of trouble which would be quite the asset. His ADHD already gave him practice with mental control which could mean that he might be able to handle his shifts easier than most bitten werewolves. The bite would help cure him of his wandering focus and help him be sharp as well as strong. From what she saw of him today, he wasn't much in the area of physical strength. And from what Scott had told her of being on the bench, possibly not very coordinated. But, he was young and he could very well be trained and nurtured to overcome all that. It also sounded like he didn't really crave much attention and kept to himself. The only person that Deaton ever seen him really talk and be with was Scott, but he told her that they had a bond as close as brothers. To Laura, that said he was a little socially awkward, but that too could be worked on and nurtured when he was brought into a pack and would be loyal to its members. And it could be a plus as he would try not to draw too much attention to himself. His connection as the Sheriff's son was also a plus as it could provide easy inside information for any situation that could pop up. Maybe even help with unraveling the mystery behind the mark of vendetta appearing.

But, unlike Scott, perhaps Stiles was able to be turned now. From what Deaton shared with her, he might be ready for all of this. Laura learned that Stiles was getting known for being a bit of a troublemaker. More than once he snuck around and went places that he shouldn't, often dragging Scott along, though talked his way out of it when they'd been caught. Places like crime scenes or places under investigation by listening in on his father's dispatch calls. From the sound of it, she guessed that 'normal' things didn't really interest Stiles. She took this to mean that he was looking for something out of the ordinary in his life; a change, which could make him take to all this better than most. Stiles also had a grasp of how dark and harsh life could be. She remembered Cora telling her about him losing his mother, and Deaton told her that he learned the boy suffered from sleepwalking and panic attacks in the months that followed. She remembered how sympathetic and sweet he was when he handed her the drawing. He understood pain and loss from a young age building empathy and developed inner strength to live and deal with it and still be a good, loyal person if how Deaton and Scott spoke of him was anything to go by. Stiles would be a smart and solid addition to the pack; potentially a force to be reckoned with in time. She should go and seek the kid out, bring up and put the offer of the bite out in front of him. She had a feeling he'd accept though maybe not immediately, but after he gave it real thought he'd agree and she'd happily do it. After the full moon though, to help give him adjusting time.

Speaking of the full moon, the next one was on Friday, less than a week away. She got up and looked out the window. It was still some time before the sun went down. She would comb the woods tonight, get herself familiar with them again. And then gently install herself back into town. Scott and Stiles would be a decent start but she had to keep an eye out for other potential pack members. Not to mention, approach Satomi and work up an alliance. And check on the things in her family's vault under the high school. But, before she did any of that, she had to pay one more person a visit.

She came to the hospital where she went and checked in to visit her uncle.

"Hey Uncle Peter," she said as she moved to face him. He was sitting in a wheelchair as he was facing the window. He was staring off with unblinking eyes. "It's me, Laura. I'm back." But he wasn't reacting.

Laura spent a good hour talking about her and Derek and what they've been up to since they left for New York. She told him about how she was back to reclaim Beacon Hills for the Hales and was going to start building her pack. A nurse then came in and told her that visiting hours were starting to end. Laura moved to give Peter a hug and promised to visit him again soon. As soon as she left the room, Peter blinked his eyes.

It was dark now with the moon shining down on the town. Laura made her way into the woods and until she eventually found her way over to the Nemeton. The giant tree stump still was a sight, one that sent a chill down her spine. She looked over and saw a giant flat looking rock some distance away. A memory flashed through her mind, one of a woman turning into a wolf and standing atop that rock before leaping off and running. Laura couldn't help but smile as she moved to remove her clothes. She shed them off and then moved to bundle them before she then moved and shifted fully into a wolf. A dark haired wolf was again standing atop of that rock. The wolf's eyes glowed red before it moved and leaped off the rock and ran into the woods.

As Laura ran, she felt as if she had never left. But better, for she was now running through them as her mother once had done. She ran all hours of the night until she felt she had ran the whole of the woods. She started to make her way back to the place where she left her clothes. She saw a cliff edge up ahead and built up speed. She then went and leapt off it and landed firmly on the ground. Laura then walked up some more steps before she shifted back to her human form. She was limping slightly as the jump was higher than she thought it was. She had gotten carried away but it would heal in ten or fifteen minutes. She softly made her way for her clothes but she heard a sound. It sounded like footsteps. It was close too. She moved off, her claws ready, but came upon someone standing with their back turned to her. Her eyes widened and her claws retracted. It couldn't be.

"Peter," she muttered. "Is that you?"

She approached and reached for him but before she could touch him, he turned around and revealed his teeth and claws. Before she could react, he struck.

* * *

It was the middle of the night when Maggie Carson was stirred up from her sleep as she heard noise coming from her kitchen. She sighed as she moved to pull herself out of bed. She went over and sighed upon the sight of Cora leaning over the counter with a platter of food in front of her.

Cora looked up and caught the sight of her. "Sorry, did I wake you?"

"Yes. Cora, its just passed two in the morning." Maggie reminded her. "Don't worry about it," she said before Cora could apologize. Then she pointed to the leftover chicken tenders in front of her. "Eating again? Didn't you have a big meal two hours before you went to bed," Maggie mumbled out.

Cora went and took a hard bite of a piece of chicken before swallowing it. "I can't help it. Just woke up with a sudden craving. This one just won't be satisfied," she said as she rubbed her swollen belly.

"Hopefully, this will help." Maggie then went over and pulled out some Reshi before starting to brew up some tea.

"I don't need tea. What I need is some tranquilizer to get this one to stop kicking around."

Maggie choked back a laugh. "Sounds like you're carrying quite a wild child. Given how stubborn and high-strung the mother is," she said giving Cora an amused grin which she answered back with a sneering eye. "And what I've heard of the father, I guess it's only natural."

Cora sighed. She'd heard some things too. "I can't believe Stiles actually chose to face against assassins and former hunters out in the open while his friends stayed under cover. Actually, that's a lie. I can totally believe that." She shook her head. "I honestly can't decide if that was brave or foolish of him."

That made Maggie chuckle a bit. "Yes, there is quite a thin line between bravery and foolishness. Most of the time, it's the same thing."

"A brave fool, yeah, I guess sums Stiles up perfectly," Cora said as she went to take another hard bite of chicken.

"Yes." An amused smirk appeared on Maggie. "Exactly your type."

Cora was silent before she rolled her eyes. "Maybe," she mumbled just before gobbling up the last bit of food on the plate.

The tea pot started to whistle and Maggie went to fill two mugs. She then moved to sit across from Cora and handed her a mug. "It's okay Cora."

"You know, when I went back to Beacon Hills. It was to find out if the rumors about a Hale Alpha there was really true. When I got there, I ended up finding my brother was still alive but had lost my sister to my uncle. Then I met Stiles and he was this annoying, dorky and excitable high school kid." She moved to take another sip of tea. "But, then I saw how he became this hard and strong beast the moment someone tried to hurt his friends. Hurt me. And afterwards, turn into this sweet and understanding guy who wanted to help me and my brother, even when we didn't make it easy for him. And...I-" Cora couldn't find herself to finish. She straightened up to look up in Maggie's calm and understanding eyes. "I was just hoping to finally have at least some of my family back. I wasn't there to, find someone."

"Well, often at times we can't help who we go and fall for. There's no logic, reason or plan for it. Ironically it tends to be at the most inconvenient of times."

"Yeah, sucks," Cora said as she moved to take a small sip of her tea.

Maggie dropped her gaze to look at the liquid in her mug. "Believe me, I know."

"You mean, you and my brother," Cora piped in. Maggie kept her gaze down. "You know, he always asks about you whenever we call each other."

"Oh?" said Maggie before she moved to take a sip of her tea.

Cora detected Maggie's sudden emotions behind her attempt to be nonchalant. "What's the story with you two?" Maggie was silent and Cora pushed. "Oh come on, you know mine. You have to tell me about yours."

"You want to hear about the relationship between me and your brother?"

"Yeah I don't mind, just, skip over any intense and gory details," Cora smiled. "I don't want any more things to keep me from sleeping."

Maggie smiled with her. "Well, at the beginning, there wasn't really much. We only saw each other a little frequently outside of school when he went to finish his senior year. I would try to talk to him but he would just barely say hi, give me a brush off or try to avoid me altogether. To be honest, I didn't really like him much."

"Yeah," Cora nodded. "I can relate. I'm sure that most who've met my brother can relate actually."

Maggie tilted her head in agreement. "But, I knew he was going through a rough time. I had started hanging out with your sister and she told me about how she was worried about him. First there was the whole thing with his girlfriend and then one year later, the fire. I understood. Even if I thought he was unbearable, I understood why he was the way he was. Then, one day I was passing by a janitor's closet when I heard some crashing noises and caught your brother thrashing around wildly. He had shifted and seemed to be in pain and I realized that he was having a panic attack. I moved to try and talk him down before anyone else came in and saw him but it wasn't working so I grabbed a fire extinguisher off the wall and sprayed him with it."

"That's handy. It worked?"

"It did. He started to breathe steadily and he slowly changed back. He sat crutched on the floor, silently crying and I moved to sit with him. Just sat, didn't say anything or do anything else as he was trying to keep his pulse calm and steady. As I sat there with him, I did some thinking and realized that it had been six months since the fire, and it must've triggered what happened somehow. I don't remember how long we sat there exactly, but suddenly Derek said thank you, out of the blue. He looked at me with his tear shined eyes, the first time I'd seen them gentle and I went to wipe the tears away from his cheek. And then, we somehow ended up kissing. Just a small one, a couple of seconds before I helped him back to his feet and then we walked out of there."

Cora just sat there, barely blinking or breathing at that. "Oh," she said. She couldn't imagine her stern and hard ass brother going through something like that. "Then what happened?"

"Well, he started to talk with me a bit more after that. Not a lot, but more. We would start to study together and he would ask me about some of the things I was working on with my druid training. He got better. He didn't exactly smile, more like started to not frown as strongly but that was still better. Overtime, he started talking with me more and getting comfortable. Still kept to himself mostly but wasn't trying to keep away from me. And, I think he really started to trust me, even if he didn't want to admit it. When it had been five years since the fire, Derek came to me and told me that he wanted to carry something that always reminded him of his family and decided on a tattoo. He knew that it wasn't possible to just go out and get one and expect it to stay and asked me if I could help him keep it. When I told him of a way, to burn it into him, he had me do it while Laura held him down."

"And, what about the other thing?"

"We never brought up the kiss, ever. I guess he didn't want to make a big deal out of it."

"Did you?" Cora asked Maggie softly.

She shrugged. "Not really. I mean, I was only just trying to be there, as a friend. And at first, that's all I really wanted. An actual friend who I didn't have to hide my second life from and who really understood it. I think that what's Derek wanted to. Then after he graduated, he went and got a job at the local gym and started to take a liking to working out. And, after a couple of years he was starting to get more-" She remembered seeing how Derek's arms were getting bigger and his pecs and abs were filling out underneath the wife beaters he enjoyed wearing. Just the memories were making things stir up in her.

Stirrings that his younger sister could immediately detect. "Yeah, getting into intense and gory territory," Cora cut in.

Maggie laughed. "Sorry. But, long story short I started to look at him differently. And, more than once, I started to catch him staring at me when he thought I wasn't." She smiled naughtily at the times she saw him staring at her when she studied or how she felt his eyes following after her ass when she was leaving a room. "But, I was too scared to really make a move. I wanted him to make the first one."

"So, what did you do?"

"Well, first I tried teasing him a bit. Started to get into running so that I could be in some tight running shorts and sports bras around him. Moved to brush my bare skin against his more times than normal. Intentionally spilled water on myself a few times when he was around. He often made sudden excuses to move out of the room or remembered shifts that he had to take at the gym more times than usual."

Cora snickered. "Oh wow." She would've loved to have seen her brother put through all that. That would be teasing gold. "What happened next?"

"Well, he didn't take it lying down for long. Soon he started to try and tease me back. He would just finish working out whenever we were supposed to meet so I would see him covered in fresh sweat and then prefer to lounge around without a shirt on. Sitting or lying out in plain sight, trying to make me ogle him while I was trying to concentrate on what I was working on at the time. Of course, I tried to fight back by making my tops looser or "accidentally" slide down and expose a bit more for him to see. Then he decided to have spur of the moment urges to burn off some leftover energy and do some sit ups or chin up nearby."

Cora broke out into hard laughing. "It sounded like you two were trying to drive each other crazy."

"Mm, I'll admit, it was kind of fun. But after a while it started to get frustrating. Really frustrating. Then, something happened about half a year before he left."

"What?"

"Uh, it's in the thick of intense and gory territory," she told her and Cora nodded.

"Say no more."

Though she didn't say it, Maggie could remember it perfectly.

She had gone to Laura and Derek's place to look for Laura but found that she wasn't home. At first, she thought no one was home as every room seemed empty but then she had heard sounds coming from the bathroom. She was about to call out and ask if someone was in when the door just suddenly opened and Derek had stepped out. He was in nothing but a towel and was damp after he had just finished taking a shower. She had surprised him, as he knew Laura had left and thought he was alone, and the towel fell. The two of them just stared at each other. Maggie's eyes wandered down his bare toned body and following the slow drops of water as they went down his pecs, to his abs. She then let her sight linger at what she had only been able to imagine in her fantasies. His length was long and semi-hard and seemed to be growing, pointing at her as it did. It made her throat close up in anticipation and a knot tie in her stomach.

As for Derek, seeing how Maggie watching him made his insides heat up. He had an impulse to try and reach for his dropped towel but his body refused to move to pick it up. He could see that she was checking him out until her eyes seemed stuck at his cock. He could smell the lust and feel the heat rise in her and it was making him get hard which made all that get more intense. He saw that she was wearing a sundress that showed off her bare arms and a good bit of her legs. His own stomach tightened as he had the sudden urge to run his hands over them. More than once, seeing her made him want to just grab her. His wolf then scratched at him to finally sate those urges and he moved, triggering Maggie to move as well. He went to her and she grabbed at his head as they met in a heated kiss with Derek's hands resting at the sides of her neck.

All the repression and lustful frustration built up over the last couple of months fueled into that kiss. Maggie's hands started to move down Derek's damp back and pass over the smooth skin over his triskele tattoo. Derek then moved to grab at Maggie's hips and carry her off to his room, kicking the door close behind him. They moved to make out on his bed, with him on top. When he craved for more, Derek saw that the water that clung to his body and damped her sundress to stick to her skin and he heatedly ripped the thing off, to her excitement and euphoria. After all the time of teasing and trying to get on edge of each other, they were through waiting. Together, they pulled off any fabric on her that was separating their bare bodies from each other. Derek could feel that she was as wet on the inside as he was on the outside and plunged himself into her like there was no time to waste. They moaned at their deep connections, pulled at every inch of each other's bodies and screamed each other's names when they hit their highs; thankful that Laura wasn't there to interrupt any of it.

Maggie was brought out of her past musing when Cora called her name. "What?" she said blinking at her.

"You just spaced out for a sec there."

"Oh, sorry. Well, after it happened, Derek said that he didn't want things to get awkward or weird between us. I was the only real friend he'd had in years and I felt the same way so I told him that it didn't have to. We were both adults and had needs and we could take care of those needs for each other because we were friends. We could just be better friends."

"Friends with benefits?" Cora guessed.

Maggie nodded. "Yeah. And, it was great," she said suggestively. "We were exactly the same as before but were able to hash out our frustrations, stress and even our pain with each other. I was okay with it, and Derek seemed okay. Enough that over the months Laura noticed. She knew that something was going on and I told her what me and Derek were going through. She said that she understood but also told me that if we actually became serious, she could see Derek actually ending up being happy. And she felt that I might end up being happy too. After that, I couldn't stop thinking of how she might be right and talking to Derek about it."

"And, did you?"

"No. before I could, that mess started up in Beacon Hills and Laura left, then him. He didn't think twice about it, and why would he. As far as he knew, there was no real reason for him to stay; he only had just one real good _friend_ here. We never got around to talking about it."

"Might not be too late," she suggested.

Maggie sniffed. "What about you? It might not be too late for you either."

"I don't think I'm in the same boat as you. I hooked up with Stiles kind of on the spur of the moment. Didn't stay long enough to see if it could go anywhere."

"Would you have wanted it too?"

Cora shrugged. "It doesn't matter. He's with my cousin Malia and sounds happy enough."

Maggie kept her gaze. "That's not what I asked."

"Well, it's not an option. I'm never going back to Beacon Hills and that's where he belongs so it really doesn't matter." Cora suddenly had an image of Stiles calm face. His honey colored eyes as he was gently looking at her. Being with her when she thought her brother was dead and comforting her through her doubts of trying to be back in Derek's life, and him in hers. Then she remembered when she left and him saying that he was glad to finally see her beautiful smile before she initiated their final kiss. She then moved to down the rest of her tea.

"Guess not." She then saw Cora sigh as she moved her left hand to rub at her belly in a soothing manner. "Say Cora, with roughly one month left, maybe you should be starting to consider some names?"

Cora was glad for moving away from that depressing topic. "Oh, I already have names picked out."

"Really? What?" Maggie asked eagerly.

"If it's a girl: Talia Erica Hale." Talia after her mother who she missed and told her to run all those years ago and Erica for the one that didn't manage to make it out of the hell they went through from the Alpha Pack.

"Sounds like a real beautiful name. And if it's a boy?" asked Maggie.

"Jason Boyd Hale." Jason after her father who she never got the chance to meet before he had died and Boyd after the one who managed to get away with her from that hell but sadly still fell to the Alpha Pack in the end.

"That's sounds like the name for a future handsome boy."

"Yeah," Cora said softly. She then went and covered her mouth as a small yawn escaped her.

"Seems like the tea is working after all," Maggie said before she helped get Cora to bed. Then she moved to clean up and then headed back herself.

* * *

It was early the following afternoon, Maggie was out in her garden, checking on her herbs when her phone started ringing. She saw that Derek was calling her.

"Hey Derek," she said as she answered.

"Maggie, something's happened." Derek's tone was soft but tense.

Maggie's face fell. "What? Is something wrong?"

"It's Kate. She's taken Scott."

"What?"

"She surprised him and took him and his girlfriend Kira off to La Iglesia."

Her eyes widened. "The temple of the Nagual?" she said, remembering it from her studies.

"That's the one. I'm going there with his friends to get him back but chances are, she's counting on that. Look, I'm not sure what's going to happen. But if something does-"

"Derek," Maggie cut in.

Derek went on as if she didn't interrupt. "If something happens," he said a bit stiffly. "Keep watching over Cora and the baby for me. Please Maggie."

"Of course," she gasped out. "Derek, you didn't even have to ask."

He sighed. "I know. I didn't have to, just like when I brought her to you before I left again. You've taken care of Cora all this time and helped her through everything she's been going through."

"It's what I'm here for," she told him gently.

"Yeah...and you've always been there. Since the beginning." Derek was silent for a moment. "Uh, Maggie, I don't know if I ever said this but...thank you. For everything. I could never repay you for all of it." He spoke to her with a soft tone and longing tone he hadn't used for the longest time.

"And you never have to," she said back to him in the same tone.

After that, they both hung up. Maggie went and let out a hard sigh as she released all the pent up emotion that she built up from that phone call. She cleared her throat and moved in for the house. She had to tell Cora the latest news about Kate Argent. She called out for her and Cora quickly called her name back loudly. She moved and found her sitting in her living room.

"Cora, something's happened."

She nodded. "Yeah, it has."

Maggie then noticed there was a stain in the carpet next to the couch. For a moment, Maggie thought Cora must've spilled something. "What is this?"

Cora was holding onto her stomach with both her hands and her breathing was heightening. "Uh, I think my water just broke."

Maggie's eyes widened. "What? No, its too early. There's still at least another month."

"Yeah, well I don't think it matters to this one." Cora gasped out before looking up at her. "My baby is coming."

* * *

A/N: I hope you enjoyed this special interluding chapter. A good look at both of the Hale sisters in their lives behind the scenes, or before them in Laura's case. Even a small glimpse of Derek's life before he went back to Beacon Hills to be everyone's favorite sour wolf. Laura leaving her mark, which will be tie everything together next chapter and Cora's now having her baby, guess what it will be. All the while, the gang in Beacon Hills is getting ready to head off to fight Kate with the full moon approaching. I hope you'll enjoy it. Oh, and if any of you want to have a better picture of Maggie Carson, I imagined her look to be that of Emma Stone.


	26. Smoke and Mirrors

Chapter 26: Smoke and Mirrors

Hours after Laura had visited her uncle, he had burst through his open window after the moonlight hit him and went to seek her out. The first part of his plan had worked. She had told him of a mark of vendetta appearing and she had come to look into it like he had wanted and she had come alone which made it better. When he got to the woods, he tracked her scent down and found a bundle of her clothes. He then found that nearby Laura's scent was mixed with that of a wolf. Which must have meant that she was combing the woods as a fully shifted wolf. She had tapped into that power just like her mother, his sister. He lied in wait, nearby until he caught the sound of something pouncing through the air and landing nearby. He could barely contain his excitement as he heard the footsteps coming closer. He heard her call out his name as she shifted back and, when she was close enough, he pounced. Tore into her and gazed into her dimming crimson eyes and looked out as his own eyes glowed with a red light.

The power filled Peter and he could already feel himself start to heal internally. His external wounds would take more time. His ability for rational thought had been slowly returning but, this new surge of power, helped him think clearer and longer than he had been able to for years. He looked down at the corpse of his niece and knew what had to be done. After Laura's body was prepared to look like she had been butchered by a hunter in order to throw his no doubt incoming nephew. At the hospital, Laura had told him that it had been just the two of them. She hadn't created any new betas, and was planning to start soon, here. As he dragged Laura's halves off to separate parts of the woods, he thought that was a great idea. The full moon was approaching and his ability for thought would get better in time and power. A pack would help in the latter and he would start tomorrow night. The moon was nearly full and it rose again the following night, Peter felt something more than just his own power. He found that he had taken Laura's ability to shapeshift as well, and his fractured mind manipulated and changed it for his own ends. He then took off for the woods to find some easy and isolated passerbys to recruit to his pack and further increase his power and mind.

What he, or Laura, couldn't have accounted for was how her last great leap off that edge before she transformed back had left quite the impression into the ground. Landing on her front paws had paved them deep into the moist forest floor. And, the following day, there had been on and off light showers. Fresh rain water was steadily gathering up in those prints up until they were filled with water come nightfall.

The lower half of Laura Hale had been found by joggers, which had been reported to the police, which had been overheard by the Sheriff's son, Stiles. His appetite for challenges and adventure invigorated him to try and find the other half before his father and his deputies did. But, he couldn't go alone. He had to bring his best friend Scott along for the ride. While he was reluctant as he wanted to prepare for the long awaited lacrosse tryouts the next day, Scott didn't feel like letting Stiles go alone, especially when he was so excited for one last crazy time before school started again. But he kept trying to talk Stiles out of it, even as they were stomping through the dark. But then they ran into a set of circumstances that caused the two of them to separate from each other.

Peter was running through the woods, using his slight rational thought to avoid the search parties. He diverted himself off to where he picked up some faint signs of movement and found himself where he had left Laura's top half. He saw that it had already been found by a scared teen that he would come to know as Scott. He saw him, alone and vulnerable, and found the first one to recruit into his pack. The boy was trying to get away from it and stopped moving when he heard as Peter moved and disturbed some fallen twigs. Scott turned to look upon him just before Peter pounced at him, knocking him down. Then he moved to bite Scott at his side, causing the boy to scream. Peter felt primal joy at having the boy's blood on his teeth, and hearing his scream. He was so caught up in the sensation that he didn't hear there was another scream, but one of conviction instead of fear.

"Scott!" his friend Stiles shouted as he heard Scott's scream. He ran in and saw that his friend was being mauled by the shifted mad alpha.

The next thing that Peter knew was getting walloped from behind by a thick branch as if it were a bat. He was more surprised than hurt, but it still forced him to stumble off to the side. When he turned around he saw another teen boy moving for the first one. Stiles was checking on Scott, with no thought to the giant he had struck with a branch and Peter couldn't help but feel insulted that he was disregarded so easily. Out of frustrated impulse, he charged into the boy, sending him into the ground, his cheek digging into the soggy ground and his mouth at ground level. Peter growled under his breath but tilted his head as he saw the boy stir and start to pick himself up. He then rushed over and drove his fangs deep into the boy's exposed arm, making him scream out in pain, just like the first one. After that, he took off, thrilled that he now had made two betas in one night. He was so enthralled that he went and sent a loud howl into the sky that echoed in the woods.

Yet when Stiles had been thrown, he had landed right beside where Laura had landed the night before. His cheek dug right into the edge of her now rain filled pawprints. The rainwater in the print started to flow into his slightly open mouth. He sucked in air but swallowed a good bit of the water and Stiles' eyes shot up as he felt some go down his throat. He moved to get to his knees but before he could fulfill his reflex to gag, fangs went and dug into his arm, making him scream instead. Then the beast went and threw him off into the distance before it left to run into the woods. When he got to his feet, he had forgotten all about the water he swallowed as he tried to look for Scott through the pain in his now bleeding arm.

Both Peter and Stiles, were unaware that the bite Peter gave Stiles actually had been pointless. When he was the Alpha, Peter couldn't understand why his influence on Stiles wasn't as strong as on Scott and just chalked it up to not being the first he turned. Near a year later, Alan Deaton would tell some teens that an Alpha biting someone who already had been turned and had a wolf they were bonded to wouldn't create another. Stiles had already been turned before Peter had bitten him albeit a few seconds, with the rarest method of lycanthropy there was: Drinking rainwater from a werewolf's pawprint.

And no one knew, that is until over a year later, when Alan Deaton went and paid a visit to Gabriel Valack at Eichen House. He was gifted with two visions from Valack's third eye. One telling the present with Scott McCall's current predicament, and the other of the past which ties to Stiles Stilinski's future. He was alone in his clinic, contemplating it all, as his bell rang and he moved to find both Stiles and his father walking in with tense looks on their faces.

* * *

Kira stirred from her sleep to see that she didn't just have a nightmare. She and Scott were kidnapped by Kate Argent and she was actually there, alone and scared, in that bone filled pit. But as she looked around, she saw something was different. The door was opened. She moved and pushed it back and left the cell. She calmly called out for Scott as she slowly made her way through the dark tunnels. But there was no sign of anyone and she didn't hear anything. She got to a corridor where she could detect something moving up ahead. She backed away but froze when she had bumped into a Berserker behind her. She screamed just as it grabbed her and started to attack her. It thrust her into the wall, over and over, until her head was bleeding. Kira knew she didn't have a chance at getting away, not without a weapon but she had to do something. She grabbed at the thing's arm but her eyes widened when she saw that there was a familiar set of bands marked in them. She then looked and could make out a set of brown eyes through the skull that she knew so well. This was Scott!

Before anything more could happen, a howl echoed through the tunnel and the attacking stopped. Scott the Berserker, then dragged her off and dropped her off to the center of the room and then stood at a corner in attention as Kate Argent stepped into the light.

Kate sucked at her teeth. "I'm going to have to do a better job of covering that up," she said as she looked at Scott's exposed tattoo. If she was going to see Scott and Stiles rip each other to pieces then she couldn't have Stiles learning who he was as fast as Kira did. "Can't risk the fun being over too quickly."

"What did you do to him?" Kira gasped.

"How, that's the better story." Kate then began circling her. "See, when I first got away from the Calaveras, I had no idea where to go. But _something_ kept pulling me here. To the Temple of Tezcatlipoca. It's name means Smoking Mirror and this place is a temple of a smoking mirror." She then went over to a wall and made claw marks into the dust of a wall. "Obsidian," she explained. "When I got here I found the Berserkers waiting for me. They helped me survive and I didn't quite know why until just recently when I decided to trust someone I never thought I would trust. It was then that I found that I could not only control the Berserkers." Kate moved over to where Scott was still standing, still as a rock at full attention to her, awaiting her command. "But I could create them. They call me La Loba, the bone woman. We let you out because we needed to test his loyalty."

"What?" Kira gasped. She realized that her chance of escape had all been a setup. A sick game.

Kate let a chuckle loose. "Hey, did you know that Scott became an Alpha without having to kill anyone for it? Call it a True Alpha. They make it sound like he's so special," she said mockingly sad as she rubbed at his tattoo. "But really, how special could he be when his pack went and lost three members within a few weeks of his glorious reign. One of them, my own niece, who he supposedly loved so much that he would've given and done anything for her." She then looked over at Kira with a pouting lip. "Guess that's a lot to live to, isn't it sweetheart?"

"Why are you doing all this?" Kira snapped back. She knew that Scott loved Allison and that she loved him. She'd seen it. She'd felt it. She understood his feelings but that didn't mean she held it against him. It was before they had even met, so how could she. Kate won't use it to make her care for him any less. "What do you really want?"

Kate smiled. "What do I want? Oh I actually want something quite simple…revenge. On the no good stupid teenager that helped destroy mine and my family's good name. On the one that killed my niece."

"Stiles," Kira gasped.

Kate continued. "And Scott is going to help me, because he would do anything for Allison, wouldn't you Scott? The sweet and innocent girl that you loved so much. The one he would fight for. Die for." Then Scott reached into his belt and pulled out a boned claw before he made his way to Kira. "Kill for."

She shook her head and started crying. "Scott, no!" Kira said trying to reach him.

But he went and drove it into his stomach, his eyes not blinking as he watched her start bleeding in front of him.

Kate smiled. "Scott always tries to not kill, no matter what, but I think it's high time to change that. He'll start by killing that smart and sarcastic son of a bitch and avenging everything he's done to me." She then went to bet the side of his mask fondly like she would to a pet. "Or, at the very least, softening him enough for me to rip his pale throat out."

Scott let a low pitched growl escape from within the mask that sounded different from what Kira had ever heard him utter, and it sent chills down her spine.

* * *

Deaton first went and told the two Stilinskis of an entire wing in Eichen House that was devoted to keeping dangerous supernaturals locked up. He told them of tracking down the rogue Wendigo Patrick Clark and bringing him to Eichen's supernatural wing before going to see Gabriel Valack. After explaining of his clairvoyant capabilities granted to him by a third eye he implanted into himself, he told them of Valack putting him into the vision state that Lydia had found and woken him from. It was from this that he learned of where Kate had taken Scott.

Noah shook his head after Deaton was done. "You know where Scott was taken because you had a vision given to you by a man with an eye that he drilled into his forehead?" he asked incredulously.

Deaton sighed at the man's disbelief. Clearly, he was still adjusting to all of this. "I know how it must sound Sheriff but that doesn't mean it isn't true."

"But still-"

"Dad," Stiles interrupted. He then looked over at Deaton with his eyes narrowed off in him in slight annoyance and anger. "Okay, so Eichen House has this whole secret wing for imprisoning supernatural psychos, which you've known about this whole entire time, and you only tell us about it now?!"

Deaton sighed. "Stiles, I can understand why you would be upset but it wasn't that simple."

Oh, Stiles was more than just upset. Now he understood what Brunski's comment to him back at Eichen House over a week ago had meant. In the last year they'd faced all these vicious enemies and the issues that they brought along with them, specifically in how to handle them. He and Scott almost always agonized and wrangled with each other about what they felt they had to do to stop the Kanima or Deucalion and his pack. Whether they had to be prepared to kill them or not with him often arguing for the former because he didn't see any better option to stop them for good. This could've given them an option they might have backed each other with no arguments whatsoever. But Deaton kept his mouth shut about it through everything. Even a few months ago when Stiles had gone there to try and keep everyone safe, he chose to say nothing. If they knew about this wing then he could've been safely tucked away there, along with the Nogitsune, and maybe Allison and Aiden would still be alive. And…maybe Scott wouldn't keep flinching every time he looked at his eyes when he shifted. Needless to say, he was livid with the vet.

"Let me guess," Stiles spat with his eyes as sharp as knives. "It's complicated, right?" That seemed to be Deaton's line. It was never simple, it was always complicated with him. That's why he never told them about being an emissary or that he had known about the Hales, Gerard, Deucalion or that Scott was turning into a True Alpha. "What else aren't you telling us because it's _complicated_?" he hissed out.

"Stiles," his father spoke up. "This all could wait. Right now, we have to focus on finding Scott and Kira. Okay?"

Stiles took a moment to close his eyes and take a deep breath which let out heatedly. His father was right. There were more important things for them to deal with.

"Do you know where in Mexico Kate had taken them?" he asked in an even tone.

Deaton moved to look the young man in the eye. "To the temple in La Iglesia."

Stiles' eyebrows rose up. "What? Why would she want to take them there?"

"I'm not sure. All I saw was the town and a special altar beneath the temple."

"An altar? Why? Does Kate want to sacrifice Scott to her werejaguar god or something?"

"Honestly, I don't know."

Stiles nodded. "Okay, then that's where we're going."

The two of them then left with Deaton watching Stiles as he headed out. He sighed when his door made the jingle after it closed after them. He couldn't help but think the way that Stiles calling him out on his actions was a lot like Talia often did, and later her eldest daughter, which he felt was only fitting he supposed. After all, thanks to Valack, he also was able to learn that it wasn't Peter Hale that turned Stiles, but his niece Laura. It seemed that fate worked her way into letting Laura make her mark as an Alpha and turn one of the boys she had her sights on, sadly post-mortem. And perhaps, he owed it to the late Laura Hale to let her sole beta know the truth behind his turning. Both him and his friend.

The sun had started to rise for the early morning when Noah closed the door to his office after moving his son inside.

"You're not going to Mexico," he told him.

"What? Dad, Kate kidnapped Scott and Kira early last night which means that they would've got there a couple of hours ago. Who knows what sick things she's doing to them there."

Stiles was starting to pace erratically and Noah moved to hold a calming hand out to his son. "Stiles, I know that you're feeling upset but we have to be calm and think about this. For one, we don't know for sure that they're even there."

"What? Yeah we do. You heard Deaton."

"You mean the guy that you had given attitude to because he didn't tell you about Eichen House's hidden monster wing?"

"Yeah, well that doesn't mean that he isn't right about this."

"Well, excuse me if I don't take the man at his word when he says that he had been given a 'vision' by a guy that had a third eye drilled into his forehead. Call me old fashion but I still believe that we need actual evidence. We can't afford to waste time on hunches and wild goose chases."

"Standing here, arguing about whether or not you can believe in psychic visions is wasting more time dad," Stiles argued insistently.

But Noah wasn't budging. "We have to be rational about this Stiles. Go through the proper channels and get real tangible proof. Let me go and make some calls to the border patrols and see if any people with Kate's description crossed in the last 12 hours."

"And how long is that going to take?" Stiles huffed out. "Half a day? One? Two? Dad, we can't afford to just stay here and spin our wheels going through five different government agencies for something that we both know they won't give us. Okay, someone has to go down there, find them and rescue them. I'm going," he told him.

Noah narrowed his eyes. "I can keep you from going," he threatened.

"Yeah, how?"

"I'll lock you in a cell if I have to."

"We both know I'd get out."

His father sighed and started to pace out a bit. "Son, please just give me some time. Six hours. Let me handle this the way that I know how. If I hear anything then I swear that I will instantly buy tickets for the both of us to fly to Mexico. We'll both go." Stiles looked up at him with blurred eyes. "In the mean time, go home. You've been up all night. Get some rest. You'll be no good to Scott and Kira if you're dead on your feet, right?"

Stiles was silent for a moment before he deflated and nodded. His dad then moved to get on it while Stiles moved to leave the station.

"Sorry dad," he mumbled as he went out the door.

* * *

Derek was at the loft looking at the assortment of weapons that Braeden had laid out. Guns of different makes and sizes.

"Still don't like relying on these things," he told her as she readied a handgun.

"I get it. You miss your power. I would too."

But Derek shook his head. "It's not about power, I want to be able to help. I don't like feeling helpless."

"I'm human," Braeden reminded him. "Do I look helpless?" she asked as she locked a magazine into a handgun a little harder than needed.

That made Derek smirk a bit. "You're a much better shot than me. And craftier too."

"Trying to butter me up Derek?" she said in amusement.

But he shook his head. "No, I'm being honest. What you did for Scott and Stiles, helping them with their parents' financial problems, you didn't have to do any of that."

Braeden moved her gaze to focus on the gun she was prepping. Yesterday, she had gone to City Hall and had arranged for a grant to be made to the Sheriff's Department of 75 grand in light of the recent capture of the hunters and professional mercenaries that had been caught with ties to federal crimes. Though, she subtly insisted that a bonus to the officers was a stipulation behind the donation. Then she had gone off to Beacon Memorial's medical board and put in an official 'investment' also of 75 grand, claiming that she believed the hospital was underfunded with talented and hard working nurses like Melissa McCall. She may have also hinted that she felt the woman was an undervalued member of staff and in need of a promotion. She had used the money that Stiles had given her when he hired her help back in Mexico. Despite everything they were dealing with, he had chosen to use that money to pay her to keep his friends safe without hesitation. And, she couldn't help but let Argent's words get to her. Of how she wasn't doing any of this for them, but for the money. That's why she decided to give it all back and rescind the money that Derek was paying her for Kate. But, she knew that Scott and Stiles wouldn't simply take the money back so she had to arrange all this to give it back without them knowing.

"I just thought they could use a small break after everything they've been through. They more than earned it." she said simply.

"You're not wrong," Derek mumbled. "I just hope we can get them through all this so they could enjoy it."

Braeden could see that Derek wasn't just worried about them. She guessed that he was still thinking about Lydia's visit to the loft as well the fact that his name was the third Cypher Key for the Deadpool. "Do you really think you won't be coming back?"

"Honestly, if I'm coming back then it won't be alive. And…for once, I actually care enough to want to."

Braeden calmly put her weapon down. "What's different about this time?"

Derek turned to look at her. "There's someone that I care about who needs me and is counting on me." An image of his sister Cora popped into her mind. Her and a faceless bundle wrapped in her arms.

Braeden nodded. "And what about the ones that don't exactly need you, but still want you to be around?"

"Like who?"

Braeden answered by slowly wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him in for a gentle kiss. Derek returned the kiss but he suddenly had an image of a certain girl with reddish brown hair that was with his sister right now. That forced him to pull back.

"What's wrong?" asked Braeden.

"Uh, nothing," he muttered. "I guess too much of my focus is on what is happening to Scott and Kira. Speaking of." He looked back towards her weapons. "I don't think this will be enough firepower to take down even one Berserker."

"Not even close," a voice rang out amusingly. Derek and Braeden looked up to see Peter walking down the stairs. "Killing a Berserker is next to impossible. It's not just about firepower, it's about breaking the animal's spirit from the human."

"Well, the one person we know with that kind of experience is Argent. And he's not getting back to me," Derek pointed out bluntly.

"Well, then we're going to need help," Peter said back in the same blunt tone. "Like Malia, undoubtedly Stiles, maybe Liam, and definitely me," he finished with a smile.

* * *

Stiles had drove off and picked up Malia and taken him to Scott's house so that they could get her Scott's scent so she could help track him. He already had Scott's scent committed to memory but he knew that two noses were better than one. They went to his room and he threw open his closet and grabbed a sweater from the rack.

"Here, get his scent," he said before he threw it to her.

She took a sniff and pulled it away quickly. "Fabric softener."

He sighed and went to look for something that wouldn't have been washed yet. He threw open his hamper and he pulled out a pair of his boxers. Malia gave them and him a look. "Remember, Scott's life is on the line." Malia turned and quickly went over to his bed where she took his pillow and took a big sniff of it. She now had Scott's scent. "Yeah," he said throwing the boxers back. "That works too."

They then moved to head down the stairs and they saw that Liam was standing there in wait for them.

Stiles shook his head. "Liam, go home. You're not coming with us."

"Why not?" he asked indignantly.

"Because it's a full moon tonight and I honestly don't want to spend the entire trip worrying that you'll try and claw my throat out. Not that you could but I'm afraid that you'll get me to crash my jeep off the side of the road if you tried."

"Then just chain me up and throw me in the backseat," Liam threw in.

"You tore up the last chains we put you in," Malia reminded him.

"But I have an anchor now," he tried to argue.

"And despite that you nearly lost control during the game last night a little after I left and had to be tackled by Brett to keep you from wolfing out in the middle of the field."

Liam widened his eyes. "How did you-"

"I told him," Malia revealed.

Stiles sighed as he saw Liam's face tighten at that being thrown at him. "Liam, you've only been a werewolf for like five minutes. With everything going on, you've been extra anxious lately. Last night, and right now I can smell the anxiety pouring out of you. At this rate, the only way we can get you safely to Mexico would be to freeze you in carbonite."

Liam shrugged. "Okay, fine. Where do we get carbonite?"

Stiles narrowed his eyes. A classic Star Wars reference and Liam didn't so much as blink. First Scott and now Liam. "Seriously? You haven't seen it either?" Was he really the only member of the pack that had seen the movies? But, that issue would have to wait and his face softened as he caught Liam's eye. "You don't have to do this."

"I do. Something was wrong. I should've said something yesterday."

"What are you talking about Liam?"

"Uh, the night before Scott and Kira were taken I…I had this crazy dream. I was in the woods and saw Lydia sitting with somebody on some giant tree stump. And then there was a coyote, a fox, and two wolves playing nearby. One with red eyes and the other with blue eyes. Then a jaguar was moving to attack with a Berserker. They were getting ready to fight back when something jumped out of the shadows for the wolf with red eyes. It didn't make any sense at first, but after everything that's happened, what if something inside me was trying to warn us that something was going to happen to Scott?"

"What was going for Scott?" Malia asked him.

Liam shook his head. "I, I don't really know. It was something big. Some kind of monster."

Stiles was taken aback. Normally, he would think that Liam was trying to find a reason to blame himself. Except he had seen the Nemeton and Stiles was sure that he or Scott hadn't told Liam about that yet. He was no stranger to crazy dreams where that thing was involved. "Liam, you couldn't have known that your dream was anything other than a dream. It isn't your fault and you don't have to go. This one isn't your fight."

"It is," he said insistently. "I don't have a choice anymore, you said so yourself."

"That was different Liam. Those were assassins coming for a price on your head and you couldn't avoid it no matter what. This time, you do have a choice. You don't have to jump in and get involved."

Liam tilted his head a bit. "I'm part of the pack, right?"

"Of course," Stiles said confused.

"You told me that being part of the pack means that we look out for each other, right?"

"Yeah?" Stiles said slowly.

Liam nodded. "Then that means I don't have a choice. None of us do. Scott and Kira are in trouble so we have to help them. All of us."

Stiles sighed out heatedly. He didn't like that Liam was using his own words against him like this, even more frustrating was that the kid was totally right. "Fine, you can come, but," he said cutting into the triumph lighting up in Liam's eyes. "You're going to listen and do everything I tell you to do, clear?"

Liam quickly nodded. "Yeah, totally."

"Alright, but that still leaves us with the problem of you possibly shifting on the way there."

"You could throw me in the trunk," Liam volunteered.

Malia shook her head. "No, you'd get out of that. And we don't have anything else to keep you locked up."

"Actually," Stiles piped in. "Maybe we do. But, I have to make a call."

"Great, I'll go wait in the jeep."

Liam then moved to head out the door leaving Stiles and Malia looking after him. Stiles stared off for a few seconds after Liam closed the door behind him with far off expression on his face. He then took out his phone but froze when he saw his girlfriend giving him a look.

"What?" he asked Malia.

Her eyes lit up a bit. "You like him."

Stiles let a small smile tug on his lips. "Yeah, a little. He's like the little brother I never wanted."

After making a call to Derek and Braeden, they arranged to meet over at Argent's warehouse. The three of them got there first and had waited for close to half an hour when Derek's van pulled up followed by a prison transport van.

"How did you get the prison transport van?" Stiles asked Braeden as soon as she stepped out.

"I'm a US Marshall," she reminded him.

"Yeah, I just thought that was a cover," he admitted.

Derek came out of his van, followed by his uncle Peter.

"You really bringing him?" Derek asked as he pointed at Liam.

Stiles nodded as he stood next to the kid. "You really bringing him?" he asked pointing at Peter.

"We're bringing everyone we can," Peter said slightly offended. "And, considering that Scott and Kira were taken the night before the full moon, we should probably get going."

Malia straightened up. "What's that mean?"

"If Kate really took Scott back to the same temple she took Derek, how do we know she's not planning to do the same thing to him?"

"Wait," Liam put in. "She wants to make him younger?"

"Or take him back to when he wasn't a werewolf," said Derek.

"Why?" asked Stiles.

"A werewolf can't steal a True Alpha's power but maybe a Nagual jaguar with the power of Tezcatlipoca behind her, maybe she can. So, if everyone is sufficiently freaked out, let's get going."

"We can't," Stiles spoke out before anyone could move. "Not without Lydia." Stiles then pulled out his phone to give her a call.

"Where is she?" asked Braeden.

"She went to the school," Malia said. "She was going to meet with us after."

"What was she doing at school anyway?" Derek asked her.

She lifted up the sword she was holding. "We have Kira's sword but we needed something with a stronger scent. Lydia was going to jack it out of her locker."

What they didn't know was that Lydia had made it to Kira's locker and found one of her sweaters. She gave it a sniff to see it had traces of her perfume on it which meant that there should be a fresh bit of her scent for Stiles, Malia and Liam to use. But before she could call and tell the others that she had found something, she heard a growl. She gasped and moved out of the way, barely missing getting attacked by a giant fist wrapped in bones. She started to run away from the Berserker as it snarled after her.

Stiles huffed as he hung up his phone. "Nothing."

"She has a car? She can catch up to us," Braeden threw in.

Peter snapped his fingers. "That's a good point. We'll call from the road."

Stiles shook his head. "No, what if something happened? What if she's in trouble?"

"Fine, then you stay, you wait for her. We'll go on without you." He then moved to head for the minivan.

Stiles' eyes widened as he was thrown by the surprising assertiveness from Peter. But he didn't get much time to think on it when Liam spoke up.

"I can call Mason," he offered. "He has a study group at school. Maybe he could look for her."

Stiles thought for a moment before he nodded. "Alright, fine."

Stiles went off to the side while Liam was talking to Mason on the phone. Malia decided to go and make a call to her adopted father, but only managed to get his voicemail so she was leaving a message. Stiles let his eyes linger on her before they went over to Peter who was watching Malia leave her message with his jaw tightening a bit. Stiles could pick up a taste of bitterness coming off the man and he resisted the urge to throw a smug smile his way. But, he was able to detect a hint of impatience as well.

Why was Peter so eager and ready to help them all of a sudden? Against Kate no less. When did he start caring so much about Scott and Kira? Did he think that he would be making up for the whole mess with the Deadpool by doing this? Or was he trying to score points to try and be closer to Malia? He certainly didn't get any two months ago, at the attack at the school. He practically ran with his tail between his legs and left them to take on the Berserkers at the school by themselves, including Malia. Now he's suddenly ready to charge into battle with the pack out of the goodness of his heart? Stiles wasn't ready to buy that. Peter only ever looked out for himself and if he ever did give his help, it always came with a price. There always had to be something in it for him.

He then remembered Argent's visit to his house the other day. The man told him that his sister wasn't after Scott. But, if that were the case, why kidnap him, and Kira? Argent also told him that it seemed Kate was working with someone, someone who wanted Scott in exchange for helping her learn and get a handle on herself. But, with everything that had happened and what they've done to each other, would Peter and Kate really form an alliance? It was unbelievable…but, isn't that what made it perfect? Peter insisted that Kate's plan was to steal Scott's power. What if, that was his plan? What if Peter was planning to take the power of an Alpha again? But, since he said that the power of a True Alpha couldn't be stolen by another werewolf, maybe he needed outside help which would be where Kate came in. He then remembered what Liam told him. His dream, of a coyote, fox and two wolves being distracted by a jaguar and Berserker as a monster snuck up on the Alpha wolf. Stiles remembered all too well what shape Peter had taken when they had first met, a monster to say the least. Peter then moved to look over at him and Stiles tried to play it like he was really looking at Malia.

He had to do something. But, if he tried to warn everyone then Peter might hear and know he was onto him. Movement caught Stiles' eye and he saw Braeden leaning against the front of the van, tapping at the hood as she waited. He then remembered that Argent had also told him that it wasn't just him who had this theory, but Braeden did as well. But how to subtly warn her? He went to pocket his hands when he felt something. He then pulled out the necklace that Argent had given him, the one he made for Allison. He had forgotten that he had pocketed it last night before the game. He then got an idea. Stiles stared at Braeden, hoping silently with all his might for her attention. Braeden's instincts must've kicked in because she looked up and caught his eye. He then went and put the chain on, making sure to display the Argent crest on the front of it in Braeden's direction before tucking it into his shirt. Stiles then narrowed his eyes at her before looking over at Peter's direction. He saw that the man was now looking at Malia, now that her call to Henry Tate was finished. Braeden looked over at him too for a second before looking back at him. Stiles' stare became pointed and he mentally screamed for Braeden to understand. She straightened herself up a bit before she moved her hand to reveal the gun tucked under her belt and gave a slight nod. She understood. He then picked up some deep emotion off to the side and saw that it was coming from Derek who was talking on the phone some distance from everyone else. His hearing caught some of his words.

"Uh, Maggie, I don't know if I ever said this but...thank you. For everything. I could never repay you for all of it," he heard Derek say in a gentle, soothing tone that seemed bizarre coming from the sourwolf he had always known.

He then heard a woman's voice coming through on the receiver. " _And you never have to_."

Derek then slowly hung up but kept a solemn gaze on the phone. He then looked up and saw that Stiles was heading for him and his softness quickly went away.

"Stiles," Derek said to him as he pocketed the phone. "Liam get through to his friend yet?"

"Yeah. Mason is heading out to the parking lot to check if Lydia's car is still there."

He could see Stiles was getting worried. "I'm sure she's fine," Derek told him.

Stiles let out a heated breath. "After everything, we can't lose anyone else."

"We're going to find him Stiles. I know it."

"Yeah, we have to." Stiles then went to run his hand furiously across the side of his hair. "The very last thing Scott and I did before this was have a fight. And, even though he was a no show, I was too upset with him to think anything was even wrong."

"Yeah, he came around yesterday before he went to school and told me about it." Derek then folded his arms. "Everything okay between you two?"

Stiles sighed out from his nose in frustration. "Honestly, no. I feel like all Scott and I do lately is fight and argue with each other." Their tense time in Mexico with the hunters and in Scott's room with the money just two things coming quickly to mind.

"Like over Liam?" Derek put in. "Scott told me about you teaching him about using his senses and even how to fight. It sounded like there might be some power struggle issues with your wolves so I suggested to Scott that it might be good to name you his Second."

"Second? Wait, you mean like a beta with a capital B?"

"Something like that. It's who inherits the Alpha's position. Second in line. That's what my sister was to me and our family's pack. Maybe that's what you are to Liam and why he came to you in the first place."

"He came and asked me to help him learn about being a werewolf because Scott kept on trying to dodge and put off the whole 'being a werewolf' thing with him."

Derek nodded. "Scott said he wanted Liam to try and focus on being normal. I think he wanted to try and have Liam have what he never got to."

"You mean, live through him? Yeah, I thought that too. But aside from everything that happened during his first full moon, Liam never really said or did anything that made it look like he wanted to be 'normal'," he said as he did air quotes with his fingers. "I mean, he did have issues with the whole assassins coming to kill him thing, but other than that, he actually seemed to be adjusting pretty good. More than good seeing as how he kept coming to me to show him new stuff."

"He likes being a werewolf," Derek realized.

"And Scott still doesn't. When he tried to tell Liam that "the bite is a gift" I could feel he didn't believe what he was saying to him. It's why he tried to shoot down my Turniversary idea. He still thinks of it as a curse and still hopes for a way to get rid of it. I think that's why Scott's been so mad at me. Because I've been trying to help Liam not just control his wolf but like it too. Liam isn't wishing it would all go away like Scott did when he was turned, or still is."

"Do you wish it stayed gone?" Derek asked him. "That you hadn't gone back?"

Stiles lowered his gaze a bit. "Sure, there are times when I feel like ramming my head through a wall because of all the craziness in my life now. I've seen so many people die, people that I know and even care about. But there have been benefits and I just don't mean the strength, power and being cured of my ADHD. Being a werewolf got me closer to my dad and even helped me save him from being shot. The two of us got closer to Scott's mom too. I even made some good new friends I never thought I would and have a great relationship with my werecoyote girlfriend. All of that came with it too. And last night, I went to meet with Satomi and saw how she, Brett, Lori and the rest of their pack were together and connected in a way that felt even deeper than family. For them, being a werewolf is more than just being forced to deal with the full moon and any troubles that come for them. It really is a full life and I realized it's what I want and now that I have it back, I can."

As Derek listened, he realized that he wanted to hate his sister for being right. Stiles would've understood and could truly relate to what he was currently going through. Maybe he didn't want to go to him because he didn't want to chance accepting that Stiles was more than just an ally, albeit an annoying one. But that he had actually become family, both in spirit and blood through his and Cora's future child even if he didn't know it. "All Scott needs is probably more time. It's only been a year. He might come feel the same way as you and you'll be on the same page again."

But Stiles shook his head. "I don't know. I don't think he wants to be on the same page as me. Especially now that I have these." Stiles showed his blue eyes.

"Because of Allison?"

Stiles bit the inside of his cheek. "You know after it happened, the Nogitsune told me that Scott would never see me as his best friend or pack brother again. He'd only ever see the monster that killed and took his love away from him. When these come out, he turns away. How can we ever get back on the same page when he can't even look me in the eye? Looks like he was right."

Derek was now finding that he could relate to Stiles all too well, as strange as the concept really was. "Well that demented fox was wrong. Scott will still grieve for Allison but I believe he'll work through this block eventually. Take it from someone that had those eyes, you are no monster. You probably just need time yourself. Time to accept that this doesn't make you a bad person Stiles." Stiles just stared at him as the blue slowly dimmed out.

"I hope you're right."

Further away, Peter was quietly listening in on their conversation. While he didn't care about the internal dilemmas Scott and Stiles were dealing with, there was something of interest. Derek had talked Scott into making Stiles his Second. Peter hadn't been lying when he said another werewolf couldn't steal a True Alpha's power. Yet, there was a chance that one that had been turned with the True Alpha could. Scott and Stiles may not be brothers by blood but they were in terms of power as they were turned together by him. So, Stiles had a connection to Scott that could be exploited. Stiles would kill Scott and unknowingly steal his power, in which would let Peter kill Stiles and take the power afterwards. Yet, if Stiles had really been made Scott's Second, then should Scott die his power would automatically transfer to Stiles anyway. Peter could probably kill Scott himself and still end up with what he wanted. Just like he got Talia's power from Laura last year. He might not even need to honor his deal with Kate after all. This was working out better than he thought.

"Call me as soon as you find her," Liam said to Mason before he hung up. "Okay," he called out to everyone. "Mason said that he would look for her."

"Then let's get going," Peter said to them. "We can't afford to lose more time. And remember, it's not just Kate that we're going to be up against. It's also Berserkers. You may see human eyes behind those skulls but don't assume there is any humanity left in them." Liam tensed up a bit, swallowing a bit in discomfort. "Ahh, this little one is afraid of them, isn't he?"

But, Liam then felt a familiar hand on his shoulder and let out a deep breath. He then felt Stiles let go afterwards.

"Aren't you?" Stiles asked Peter.

Peter smiled. "Of course but that fear will keep us all alive."

"How are we sure this isn't going to be like the last time, or the time before that?" Malia asked.

The previous two encounters with the Berserkers were less than successful for them. They had only been able to just hold them off and delay them until Kate was done with whatever she was doing. This time, she wouldn't be retreating.

Peter stepped over to his daughter's side. "Those times weren't during a full moon. You, me, Stiles and Liam will be at our strongest tonight. As long as none of you hesitate, give it your all and fight them with every last bit of power you have, then we should be able to take them down. Just remember that these things aren't human. You don't fight Berserkers to survive. You fight to kill." He was staring out unflinchingly and his tone was full of encouragement and confidence.

Peter then turned to head off into the van he and Derek took. Derek and Liam moved for the van. Stiles was looking at Peter's retreating back with narrowed eyes before he looked over at Braeden to see her staring off at him with the same look. They caught each other's eyes and shared an understanding silent gleam with each other before Braeden took off. Malia was moving to follow after Peter. Stiles jumped and went to catch her before she did.

"Hey, I have to ride with Liam and Derek in the transport van. Do you think you'll be okay, alone with Peter?"

"Well, he is my father. Birth father," she quickly corrected. Then she shrugged. "Maybe we'll be able to do some bonding."

Stiles shook his head. "Uh, no. No bonding. Bonding is definitely the last thing you should be doing." He then took a deep breath. "Look, just sit there, quietly. Turn up the volume of the radio and try not to talk to him. Okay?"

Malia then went off to head for the minivan. Stiles watched after her as she climbed in and sighed heatedly before he moved for the transport. As soon as he was inside, Braeden pulled on the shift and they all headed off.

* * *

Cora was sitting in Maggie's living room couch, trying to keep herself calm, as Maggie was off in Cora's room trying to fix it into a birthing room. She was setting up equipment, clean blankets, medication, and restraints. She was working with her druid teacher and they were running about like there was no tomorrow.

"I can't believe you didn't have a room already ready and set up when you knew that she was pregnant," her teacher told her a bit scolding.

Maggie narrowed her eyes at him. "Excuse me, but I wasn't expecting Cora to be delivering the baby for at least another month." But then her face softened. "Derek wanted to be here for his sister."

"Where is he?"

"Off chasing after Kate Argent in Mexico. I tried reaching him but he must be out of service. Had to leave him a message." She paused as she was in the midst of preparing the restraints for Cora's arms and legs. They were the types used for mental patients. "Are these really necessary?" she asked. "She's having a child, not going through psychotic break."

"The girl is young and it's the first time she's having a child. Not to mention, it's the full moon. All these conditions combined, she won't be able to keep herself contained or controlled." Maggie's teacher could see she was still upset about the whole thing and she sighed as she went to put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Maggie, I know it's not ideal. This isn't what's supposed to happen at a time like this but I also know that the last thing you want is for Cora or her child to be hurt. This will make sure they are both okay."

Maggie took a deep breath and then nodded as she exhaled. "Okay." She then moved to finish securing the restraints on the bed at the appropriate spots. She then looked out the window to see that the sky was turning dark. "Should we expect any trouble?"

"This isn't the first time I've helped a werewolf give birth Maggie."

"I wasn't talking about that. I meant Oscar. Will he and his pack give us trouble?" Her teacher was his emissary after all.

Her teacher's face softened a bit. "Do you really expect him too? I know that he wasn't exactly happy that Laura kept turning him down but he doesn't have any ill feelings to her little sister. Unless, you know something that I don't?"

Maggie quickly shook her head. "No, I guess it's just nerves. This is the first time that I've helped with a baby, ever. I can't help but be overthinking things."

Her teacher seemed to accept that answer. Maggie was relieved. Oscar Juergens may not be a too bad Alpha, but she knew that he wasn't exactly all good either. He was ambitious to expand his pack's power and influence, hence why he kept trying to convince a shapeshifting Alpha like Laura to be at his side. Right now, Cora was someone beneath his notice, considering that she didn't seem to have inherited the same gifts as her mother and sister. Yet, if he were to know the truth of the father of Cora's child, that he had been in the running to become a legend of werewolf folklore, then he would swoop in and try to have both Cora and her child under his thumb. Him and any other pack and Alpha that caught their eye.

Her teacher finished with readying the rest of the birthing equipment. "Okay, let's go and bring Cora in and make her comfortable. It's going to be a long night."

* * *

Noah Stilinski spent over two hours being transferred or referred to other agencies and offices as he tried to ask for any news of a woman fitting Kate Argent's description crossing the border. Most of them said the same exact thing, that young blonde women cross the border every day looking to have a good time in Mexico. He went and hung up the phone a little harder than usual as he went and buried his face in his hands with a frustrated puff. But then the phone started ringing and he quickly picked it up.

"Stilinski," he quickly said.

"Sheriff, good you're there."

He knew that voice. "Henry?" It was his son's girlfriend's father, or more precisely her adopted father.

"Do you know where Malia is?"

Noah blinked. Henry sounded freaked. "No, why?"

"She left me a message on my voicemail. Said that she was going off to help save her friends and wanted to say that she loved me. I tried calling her back, and even tried your son, but I kept going to voicemail."

That made Noah let out a small frustrated growl under his breath. "Dammit Stiles," he muttered.

* * *

As Peter and Malia were riding along, they weren't talking with each other though the van was still brimming with noise as Malia had turned the radio up with loud music to try and distract herself. Peter often tried to catch her eye but Malia was resolute in keeping her gaze on anything other than him. He knew that Stiles had told her to not talk with him. He guessed that his daughter's boyfriend was more than a little bitter about the revelations about the Deadpool's origins. More than he expected but he saw that Stiles seemed more emotional as of late. But, he thought it only be more beneficial in the end if it would get him closer to finally having the power of an Alpha back in his hand.

The sun had already set by the time they crossed the border and were now driving in the Mexican dirt roads. But the radio was still blaring and Peter felt his window for talking to Malia before his plans went down was shrinking.

"Do you mind if I turn the radio down?" he called out. She just shrugged and resumed looking out the window away from him. He turned the music down and sighed. "You worried about Stiles?"

"I'm worried about everyone."

"Do I need to be worried about you?" That made her look at him. "We need to get through the Berserkers to get to Kate. We need to go through Kate to get to Scott and Kira. Trust me, it's going to be messy."

"Scott says that we don't kill people," she told him before she looked away again.

Peter smirked a bit. "Do you think Scott would kill to save Kira? Would you kill to save Stiles? And, I heard about what happened at the lakehouse. Do you think that Henry was ready to kill that night if it meant saving you? Or Stiles to save you or Liam?" Malia didn't answer him. She just looked out the window again and tensed up. "What is it?"

Malia had been looking up and caught sight of the full moon. "The full moon." She was able to handle it better but she could still feel a slight pressure coming from it.

"Good," Peter told her. "We'll need that power." Malia's breathing then started to get a little deeper. "You trying to stay in control?"

"Trying to stay human," she told him.

"That's exactly your problem. Scott has you thinking that control and humanity are the same for us. I'm going to give you some fatherly advice. If you're going to face something as animal as a Berserker and try to win then you need to focus on the animal inside of you. You need ever ounce of ferocity and savagery that you can muster. You need it all."

Malia turned to look at him. "And maybe you're thinking that ferocity and savagery are the same as being an animal. They're not. There's more to being an animal than that."

"Scott teach you that too?" he asked in amusement.

"Stiles did." The memories of them running and hunting together in the woods came to mind, as well as the last full moon when they walked together under the moonlight and letting their enhanced senses take in everything around them.

They were so distracted with each other that they didn't notice the transport van behind them was starting to wobble around a bit as it kept driving after them.

* * *

Kira was thrown back into that pit with the wound left in her stomach. Kate had only wanted Scott to stab her once and left her to slowly bleed herself out in the dark. She knew that she was doing it to torture Scott and play some kind of sick game with his friends, especially Stiles. She had to believe that Scott was still in there, screaming and clawing to get back in control of his body. She just hoped that he could before he ended up killing Stiles or he got killed by him. She hoped even through the intensifying pain from her wound and the ever growing amount of blood pouring out of her. After a while, she found it too painful to even try to move. Tears were starting to leak out as it only got harder to breathe and she wondered if she was really going to die, alone, in this dark and empty pit.

" _It's okay to cry_ ," she suddenly heard a voice call out. " _It's no measure of your strength_."

Kira knew that voice. It was her mother. She was speaking to her in that calm and tranquil tone she was used to hearing from her when her mom tried to be comforting.

"But I'm not strong," she cried out. "I need to get up. I have to tell them."

" _How do you know you can't?_ " her mother asked.

"Because I'm not healing," Kira sputtered as she looked at her bloodied hand covering her wound. "You told me why I never get sick. And that I would learn to heal."

"Then learn," her mother said simply and calmly.

"I can't. I don't know how. How to start or what to do."

"I told you once that foxes and wolves tend not to get along, but they are similar creatures aren't they? You've seen wolves heal. How do they do it? Kira, how do they trigger it?"

Kira thought to the times she'd seen Scott get hurt and to what she heard of Stiles' time being drugged at Eichen House. She remembered what they did to try and jumpstart their healing. "Pain," she answered. "With pain."

She looked around and saw nothing close by to use to help her use pain as a trigger. So, she moved to make one, by hitting the wall next to her. She poured all the strength she had to get it to crack and have a piece of rock break off to use as her anchor of pain. She held it in her hand and let the pointed edge cut into her palm, forcing herself to feel every bit of it. Her eyes then started glowing.

* * *

There was a great, primal scream, but thankfully it was diluted through a medical muzzle. Cora was struggling in the birthing bed as her wrists, ankles and waist were restrained, keeping her in place. Maggie and her teacher were in front of her, trying to ease and instruct her through the pain.

"It hurts," she cried.

About thirty minutes ago, Cora's contractions started to begin and she was hurting. Hurting more than she thought it would. She privately vowed that if she ever found Stiles, she would claw his face off for this.

"Now Cora," Maggie's teacher said sternly as Maggie herself was ready. "Everything is just about ready but when it is, you're going to have to help us. When I tell you, you're going to have to push. Push as hard as you can."

Cora moved her sweaty face down to her and nodded. "Okay," she said painfully through her muzzle. "Maggie?" she muttered.

"I'm here Cora," Maggie told her gently with a nod.

"Alright, push Cora," her teacher told the young werewolf. "Push!"

Cora screamed as she pushed and the pain intensified. Her eyes burning bright yellow as it all rushed to her head.

* * *

In the van, Derek and Stiles sat across from Liam as he had both of his wrists handcuffed to the bench while his ankles were shackled to the grill in the floor. He was completely bound and it was making him feel very uncomfortable. Derek could see his discomfort and thought the kid could use a distraction. He pulled out the triskelion and held the disc out for him to see.

"This has been with my family for centuries. It's a very powerful supernatural talisman. We use it to teach betas how to control themselves on a full moon. I know that you already have an anchor but you're still new and this should help make it easier for you to keep control tonight." He then handed it to Liam and looked over at Stiles. He was hoping that he would get some support but saw that Stiles wasn't paying attention. He wasn't even looking at them but out into the distance and that made Derek narrow his eyes in confusion. "Stiles?!"

As they were cruising through the Californian desert, Stiles began to feel his insides begin tingling for some reason. His eyes felt something pulling him to look out into the distance. It was like something was trying to call out to him, at least that's what his gut was telling him. But then his ears heard his name being called behind him and he turned around to see Derek and Liam staring at him.

"Uh, what?" Stiles muttered as he turned away.

"Stiles, are you alright?" Liam asked him. He hoped that Stiles was doing okay and not going through what he was.

"Yeah," he sighed. "Sorry Liam. Uh, guess I'm just feeling anxious. What were we talking about?"

"The talisman," Derek said with a bit of a glare.

Stiles then looked over to see the literal piece of junk that Meredith and Brunski had conned and manipulated Kate with to get her to break into the Hale Vault for them. Derek then forcefully stuck his chin out at him to get him to play along with the charade and he sighed. "Uh right, yeah, the talisman. It's very powerful," he muttered.

Liam held it in his hand and spent the next few hours gazing at it while Stiles and Derek just stared off and kept quiet.

The silence persisted long after Braeden drove them through the Mexican border. She looked up at the full moon that was high in the sky and looked over to see Derek was staring off in her direction. Stiles was staring off at the incoming moonlight and letting himself get into focus and make himself ready to deal with whatever was going to be thrown at them. But the both of them were thrown out of their train of thoughts when Liam suddenly snapped forward, startling everyone in the van. The hand that was holding onto the triskelion was sporting claws and he was breathing deeply as he kept his head down.

"Whatever this thing does, I think you better show me how it works," he growled out as he looked up and revealed that his eyes were glowing and his fangs were out.

Stiles moved and extended his hands out to him. "Okay, Liam you have to settle down. Can you think of your memory with your stepdad?"

He shook his head. "No. I've been trying but it's hard for me to think of him right now."

Derek leaned forward. "Okay, Liam, are you with me? There is a mantra that we use. You repeat it and focus on the words. It's like meditating. You say the words until you feel control coming back to you."

Liam grunted out as he felt his insides twisting and burning up. "Uh, okay. Okay, what are the words?!"

"Okay, look at the triskelion, see the symbol? I have a tattoo on my back, it's the same thing. Each spiral means something."

Stiles narrowed his eyes a bit. "Alpha, Beta, Omega," he muttered softly.

Liam gave Stiles a small look while Derek nodded.

"It represents the idea that we can always rise to one and fall back to another," Derek explained to him. "Betas can become Alphas." He thought of Scott as he said that.

"Alphas can become Betas," Stiles said as he thought of Derek.

"Can Alphas become Omegas?" Liam asked.

Derek nodded. "All you have to do is say the three words. With each one, you tell yourself that you're getting calmer. More in control. Go ahead."

"Alpha, Beta," he started speeding.

"Slower," Derek told him.

"Alpha. Beta. Omega." He said each one a bit slower. "Alpha. Beta. Omega."

"Again, remember each time you say it, you're getting calmer," Derek told him.

"Alpha. Beta. Omega." As Liam said that, his voice seemed to get deeper and more rougher. He got more tense and his breathing further ragged.

"Uh, Derek I don't think your powerful talisman of self-control is really working," Stiles pointed out as Liam kept repeating the words in an ever feral tone.

Liam said it one more time but it looked like each word was only making him closer to losing control than gaining it. Derek told him to say it again but Liam just growled at him and tried to pull on the restraints. The force of it was starting to make the van tilt and Braeden tried to get the van back under her control. Liam then pushed and broke his right hand free of his cuff. He tried to claw at Derek but Stiles reached forward and caught it. His eyes flaring their blue hue as he kept Liam from clawing the now powerless Derek.

"Derek?!" Braeden cried out.

"Keep driving," he shouted at her.

"Alright, we're almost there."

Liam then broke his other hand free and Stiles moved to snatch that one too. He went and bumped Derek down and out of Liam's reach while he moved to be in front of Liam. His own claws were out and biting into the flesh of Liam's wrists.

"Drive faster!" Stiles shouted to her as Liam growled at his face.

"Liam, focus!" Derek tried calling out.

"Uh, something tells me that 'Alpha, Beta, Omega' is not really resonating in him," Stiles huffed out as he held him back.

"Well do you know any mantras?!" Derek spat at him.

Stiles grit his teeth before he nodded. "Yeah, I do. Liam," he barked at him as Liam kept growling at them. "Liam, look at me!" he said forcefully. "You said you were going to listen to me so listen to me now." Liam was still breathing harshly but his glowing eyes locked onto Stiles own glowing eyes. "Liam, what three things can not long be hidden? Focus, look me in the eye and think. Tell me what they are. What three things can not long be hidden?"

"The sun, the moon, the truth," he muttered deeply.

"Tell me again Liam," Stiles said to him.

"The Sun. The Moon. The Truth," he said a little slower.

"Keep saying it and keep looking at me," he said with a small growl in his own tone.

Liam kept repeating them as he kept his gaze right on Stiles as he stared back at the younger beta unflinchingly. Liam felt himself settling and Stiles began to let his grip on Liam falter. Their raised arms started to settle and descend until they were resting on their knees. Liam kept saying the Buddhist mantra with calmer breaths until Stiles felt content enough to let go of the kid's wrists completely. The glow then faded from both of their eyes but they kept their gazes still locked on each other.

"Is everything okay back there?" Braeden asked.

Derek, who was watching them nodded as he looked over at her. "Yeah, I think we're okay now." He couldn't help but smile as Liam was breathing calmly but was still staring at Stiles as the older beta went to grasp his shoulder in a brotherly manner.

It was pitch dark with the full moon as the only source of light in the village of La Iglesia. But that changed when two sets of headlights shined on them as the pack arrived.

When they came to a full stop, Liam sighed. "For a second, I thought I was going to rip you two apart," he said in a low tone.

Stiles tilted his head. "And I thought I was going to have to beat you unconscious," Stiles said back to him in the same kind of tone. Liam stared at him and Stiles shrugged. "Probably would've made the trip home kind of awkward."

Derek rolled his eyes as he got up to open the back of the van for the others to get out. He stopped to look back at them before he did. "You in control now? Do you think you could keep it up in La Iglesia?"

Liam brought out his claws effortlessly and determination etched into his face.

"Yeah, I think we can do this," said Stiles.

Derek then turned the door handle to open it. Yet, as soon as he did, Derek was grabbed by a Berserker as it came growling at them. It threw him out into the air where he landed a few feet away. The Berserker charged at Derek but was struck from behind. Stiles had leapt out of the van for the giant. It stumbled but managed to stay on its feet. It caught Stiles' next punch and squeezed his hand making him grunt in pain. Liam called out Stiles' name as he moved to try and help him but the Berserker went and grabbed Stiles' shirt with its other hand and launched him to crash into Liam making the two tumble together in a heap. It started to stomp for the two and Derek quickly yanked out his handgun and started to let a barrage of bullets loose at it. They ricocheted off it's bony shoulder blades before it stomped off for Derek instead. It made a slash for him and while Derek tried to back away, it still managed to wound him. A big blast hit it's back as Braeden let a shot from her shotgun at it. Braeden cocked her shotgun to let a barrage loose and the Berserker moved to flee. Malia ran over to Stiles and Liam as they picked themselves up and watched the giant creature jump into the shadows, out of sight.

"Derek?" Stiles cried as he could smell the guy's blood.

Derek was gritting his teeth as he moved to lean against one of the walls of a nearby abandoned house. Braeden moved over to him and lifted his shirt to expose the wound.

"It looks a little deep but I think I can treat it. He shouldn't move though."

Stiles moved to Derek's side while Braeden ran off to grab a first aid kit from the transport. Stiles started to move his hand to where the wound was to try and siphon the pain, but his arm stiffened and his throat closed up as he started to feel a little sick suddenly. Derek noticed Stiles' reaction as the werewolf pulled his hand away suddenly.

Liam took a moment and looked at the place. Stiles told him all about the last time that the pack had been here. It was only about a week before they had first met him when they had to come here and save Derek, who had been turned into a teenager no older than them. Seeing it all with his own eyes, he wondered how they did it the first time. "So, what's the plan?" he asked out to everyone. "How do we find Scott in here?"

Stiles looked up at the temple. "Deaton said that Kate would be holding Scott at an altar."

"Okay, well where in that place is the altar?" Liam asked.

"Not in there," said Peter. "Underneath. There's a series of tunnels and passages that the Nagual built directly under the church to protect the real sacred and holy sites of Tezcatlipoca."

"It's a maze down there," Braeden told them. "You'll have to find it by tracking their scents. You can pick them up, right?"

Liam narrowed his eyes. "Yeah, I got it. Scott and Kira. It's not too strong though."

Stiles gave the air a sniff and picked them up. They were faint, just like Liam said. His ability to use his sense of smell for tracking was improving. "Yeah, it's been nearly a full day since they've been taken. Kate must've brought them straight inside as soon as they got here," Stiles explained as he knelt down at the ground. "I can pick up Kate's scent too."

"Go!" Derek spat out. "All of you, go in there and find them."

"We can't just leave you out here," Stiles argued. "What if that thing comes back?"

"Don't worry about us," said Braeden. "I can handle things out here." She brought out her shotgun to emphasize that. "You go and do what we came here for."

"Save him," Derek breathed out in pain.

"Let's go Stiles!" Peter called out to him. He, Malia and Liam were a bit off, closer to the temple.

Stiles forced himself to turn away and move towards the temple. But before he got two steps away, he was stopped by Braeden.

"Stiles," she said out to him. She then looked out to catch the sight of Peter Hale who was looking at them with the other two. She knew that Peter was probably listening in. "Stay sharp down there." She emphasized with a pointed look.

Stiles gave a nod to show he understood before he headed off to join with the others. As the older Hale pushed open the doors and became the first one in, Stiles knew he had to be careful. He was now the only one who could watch Peter. And he had to keep his guard up. Not just for Kate and the Berserkers, but whatever he was trying to pull here at this temple, Stiles knew one thing. He wouldn't let anything stop him from getting to Scott and Kira. Not Peter. Not Kate. And certainly not her Berserkers.


	27. Smoke and Mirrors part 2

Chapter 27: Smoke and Mirrors part 2

Mason's study session had been cut when he got a call from Liam. Liam had asked if he could help him look for Lydia Martin. He sounded as if finding her was a matter of life and death and Mason had a feeling that Liam wasn't alone, wherever he was, and he could hazard a guess who was with him. Again, Liam was involved in something odd that involved that group of juniors but it was clear that he needed his help so Mason was on it. He checked the parking lot and found her car and told Liam as soon as he found it. His friend asked if he could search the school for her and tell her that the rest of them had to go on ahead. Mason started to scour the halls in search of her. The school was mostly empty around this time so his footsteps sent a bit of an echo with every one he made. One by one, he looked into every classroom he passed but there was no sign of Lydia, or anyone else. He went tried calling the girl's phone and he froze when he heard a faint tone start playing. He followed the sound and found that there was a phone lying on the ground at some stair with a handbag. It looked like they had been dropped there.

"No wonder she's not answering," he mumbled as he picked the phone up. He then looked and saw the phone open to a photo of something resembling a weird animal like skull. "What the hell?" Now Mason couldn't help but feel a bit worried.

And he was right to as Lydia had been running from the Berserker that had attacked her. After it surprised her at Kira's locker, she ran off and tried to call Stiles and the others for help but it chased her and she ended up dropping it and her stuff when it managed to grab her. That very Berserker caught sight of Mason and started to advance on him. He looked up from the phone to see the very thing in the photo now slowly stomping for him and he gasped just before it pounced for him. Everything blacked out after that and the next thing Mason knew, he was being gently stirred.

"Mason, hey Mason," he heard a girl mutter to him.

When he fully came to, he quickly sat up and saw that it was Lydia who was touching him. "Lydia?" he coughed out.

She seemed a bit ruffled but not too worse for wear. "Yeah, you okay?" she asked him.

Mason blinked a bit as he tried to clear the lingering fogginess in his head. "Yeah," he said trying to get himself to sit upright. He looked around and saw that they were in the basement of the school. "Uh, there was this guy…he was big and wearing some kind of freaky mask."

Lydia nodded. "Yeah, same thing happened to me."

He went for his pocket but his eyes widened when he saw that it was empty. "My phone. It's gone."

She sighed. "Yeah, it took mine too. I think that's the point."

"What's he going to do to us?" he asked trying to hold in his urge to lose it and panic.

"I don't know," Lydia breathed out. "But whatever it is, it doesn't want us to leave."

Mason couldn't help but notice that Lydia seemed quite calm and casual given the situation. Clearly, they are both in deep trouble but she is keeping herself steady and not panicking. Now that he thought about it, when he had gone to Scott and Stiles for help in finding Liam, they were roughly the same way. Scott was worried when he learned Liam had gone missing but hadn't panicked and instead gave Mason instructions to keep an eye out and call him while he went off to look for him. And as concerned as he was, Stiles was methodical in how he handled the news of Liam's disappearance, questioning Mason about everything he knew and went off without another word to go on the search. It was as if these guys were used to dealing with danger like it was in their routine. Clearly, whatever they and Liam were involved in, it must be more serious than he thought. Especially with how Lydia just answered him.

"Lydia, why do you keep saying it?" But Lydia didn't answer him because they began to hear a deep snarling sound start echoing through the hall of the basement. "What is that thing?" he whispered to her.

"Not human," she told him as she narrowed her eyes.

* * *

Last time they had come to La Iglesia, it was Scott and Braeden who had been inside the temple. Stiles and Malia may had been in the town but hadn't actually gone inside and they wished it had stayed that way. Liam was cold inside despite it being so warm here at the dim moonlight shining in through holes in the ceiling and walls showing the decrepit and ruined church. They moved down for the lower level of the church until they found the passage to the tunnels. They couldn't find any trace of their scent, as only the stench of decay and death seemed to filter through the air down here so they just started running the tunnels. Peter pulled them back after about five minutes.

"Wait, stop, stop!" he said to them. "Okay, we have to figure out where we are, then we have to figure out where are Scott and Kira!"

Stiles narrowed his eyes at him as Peter went and looked about, playing up an act of taking the lead and trying to act like the rational adult. While the smells down here were so strong that he couldn't smell the man's chemo signature, he didn't need them to see that guy was starting to get anxious. But before anyone could do anything else, Stiles' phone started ringing. He pulled it out to find that it was his father.

"What? How do I have even have service?" he gasped. He went off a bit to answer his phone. As mystified that he was that he had reception down here of all places, he was even more concerned with how his father was like on the other end. He picked up and immediately sounded apologetic. "Okay, dad I know that you're angry right now."

" _Oh_ ," his father cut in. " _I am_ beyond _angry_. _I have reached a level of fury that would be more than a match for anything even you could have comprehended_."

Stiles sighed. "Okay, then when I get back, you can ground me."

" _Ground you? Ground you? I am going to hobble you_ ," Noah grunted out before he caught sight of Henry and he looked to be getting more on edge. He then sighed and let himself calm down. Now wasn't the time for this. " _Look, are you okay? Is Malia? Her father is worried about her_."

Stiles looked over at Malia. She, Liam and Peter were looking right at him, no doubt listening in on their conversation. "Yeah, we're fine. We're okay dad," he said turning his back on them.

" _Good. Alright…how can we help_?"

Peter's jaw stiffened when he saw that Malia's face seemed to settle a bit from hearing that her adoptive father was concerned about her. But he pushed the swell of feelings down. He couldn't afford to get distracted, especially not now.

Stiles went on to explain that everyone was here, except for Lydia. "We called Mason at the school and he told us that her car was there but we haven't heard any word from either of them. Dad, I don't really know what I'm doing here. I'm just trying to save my friends."

" _Okay_ ," his dad sighed. " _Look, I'll go and get Lydia and Mason. You'll have to trust me, and I trust you. Just go and you save your friends_."

Stiles bit the inside of his cheek. Lydia wasn't the type to just go without a word, especially when she knew and understood what was going on. And Mason, the fact that he mysteriously went silent, the timing of all this couldn't be a coincidence. He remembered Peter's eagerness and how he was trying to get them to leave without her. What if there was more to it than that? Then his father could be walking straight into trouble. "Dad…if there is one of the Berserkers at the school. None of us are going to be there this time," he muttered softly.

" _You mean you won't be there this time,_ " his dad said to him lightly. He knew that Stiles was thinking that unlike before when he kept him from learning about the hospital or from getting shot at the station, his son couldn't protect him now. But he had to show that he could be there when his son needed him, even at the brunt of all of this. " _I'll need to be careful, I get that_."

Stiles let out a deep breath. "Yeah, you'll need that plus a hell of a lot of firepower. I trust you dad. Save Lydia and Mason." He then hung up.

Back at the station, Noah hung up and looked over at Henry. "I have to go."

"I'm going with you," he told him.

Noah nodded. He knew that he couldn't convince the man otherwise even if he tried. "Alright. Then there's a few things we'll need."

Noah led them into the station's lockup where he went and grabbed the mortar shell from the Mute and Tate went for some of the daggers left behind from the Bomber. But then Noah's phone beeped and he looked to see that he got a text. He then frowned.

"What is it?" Henry asked him.

"It's Parrish. He's in Mexico with Argent. And I think I now know why Lydia is still here."

Back at the tunnels, Stiles went and rejoined the others.

"What do we do now?" asked Liam.

Malia sighed and looked out before she gasped. "Duck!" she said as she pulled Liam down.

A moment later, a giant arm swiped where Liam's head had been a moment before. A Berserker came out of the shadows and everyone began running off deeper into the winding tunnels.

"Go, go!" Peter cried out to them as he led them through the passages as the Berserker gave chase.

They came upon a grand room and Peter jumped off in one side while the other three moved for the other. Stiles quickly hit the breaks when he saw that the way ahead was blocked. Liam and Malia stopped on either side of them when they saw Kate standing there, face fully shifted, as a Berserker was standing at her side. This one seemed a bit smaller than the others but its armor seemed even thicker than normal, and spikier along the arms and back making it look even more menacing.

"Hey there Stiles, fancy meeting you again," she with a smile and tone like they were friends that casually bumped into each other in the street. There was a ruckus and the three teens looked back to see the other Berserker coming into sight but blocking the way they came. Kate then looked over at the others, her sight first falling on Malia. "Ah, and this is your girlfriend, right? Wow, you sure got yourself a _hot_ one?"

Malia narrowed her eyes deeply at Kate. "That supposed to be some kind of joke from when you burned the house with my dad, aunt and their pack in it alive? Because if it is, I'm not laughing," she growled at her.

"Ooh, feisty too," she smirked through her fanged teeth before she set her sights on Liam. "And this must be the new guy. What's your name sweetie?" Liam glared at Kate, as she was talking to him as if he were a 1st grader. He just stayed quiet. "Oh, the strong, silent type huh?"

"This isn't a social visit!" Stiles spat at her. He then let his eyes wander and saw that there was a great altar in the room. One that matched the description that Deaton gave him. Not only that, but he also noticed that Peter had disappeared. "Where are Scott and Kira?" he demanded. He had to wonder if Kate was trying to stall them while Peter went off to do whatever he was planning.

Kate's smiled widened. "Oh them. Yeah, I'm afraid you're too late."

Stiles narrowed his eyes. "What?"

"Yeah," Kate nodded. "Sorry, but I went and decided to have some fun with your buddy but he didn't hold out for too long. Sad really, I didn't get to be able to do half of what I wanted to do."

"What?" Liam gasped.

Kate clicked her tongue. "A real shame. His girlfriend had to watch the whole thing but then I had to let my Berserker here deal with her because she just wouldn't shut up afterwards and then dump her off. She's probably already dead by now."

Malia and Liam gasped but Stiles shook his head. "No, don't listen to her," he choked out. "She's a damn liar! Tell us where they are, right now!"

Kate rose her eyes in amusement. "You don't believe me Stiles? Why don't you try and listen to my heart, very carefully." She then began speaking the next few words slowly. "Scott is gone. Your best friend is gone."

Stiles ears didn't pick up the slightest hitch in her heart. It was steady the whole time. She wasn't lying. But Stiles still refused to believe it. Kate may not be lying but that doesn't mean she was telling the truth. Scott couldn't be dead. He would know if he was. He was still alive somewhere and needed his help. "No, I don't believe you!" he growled. His heart started pumping faster and his breathing becoming erratic. He found himself surrendering to the pull of the full moon. Everything that he was holding back was rising up in him and he wanted nothing more than to unleash it all on Kate and her Berserkers. "I am going to tear you apart with my claws and rip your throat out with my teeth," he hissed.

Kate rolled her eyes. "Yeah, been there, done that." Stiles lifted his face back up to show that he was completely shifted; face transformed, claws extended, fangs fully displayed and his blue eyes glowing brightly in the dimly lit room. At the sight of his blue eyes, the Berserker next to Kate let out a deep grumble as it started to step forward. "But if you really want to play that game, fine." Kate smirked at her Berserker before looking back at the three teens. "I just hope you last longer than your buddy did."

At that, Stiles broke into a run, at the same time the Berserker went for him. Stiles pulled his fist back as the Berserker pulled his own and they threw them at each other, both fists colliding so hard against each other that the force pushed them both back a few feet from one another. But Stiles just grunted as he straightened himself up and ran at the Berserker as it shook off the blow and monstrously growled at him. Liam and Malia quickly shifted themselves, ready to join Stiles in his fight. But they were grabbed from behind by the other Berserker and thrown off to opposite directions. As Malia flew off, the sword she was holding flew out of her hands and landed off at some section of the room. She and Liam both got up and roared before charging at their enemy.

* * *

After the others left them there, Derek was left there, holding his wound that was thickly staining his hand with blood. Braeden was quickly moving a piece of cloth to his wound.

"Here, hold this and put pressure on it," she told him.

Derek moved his hand so that the cloth could be placed over the wound and his bloodied hand went right over hers as she pushed on it to try and stem the bleeding. They stared at one another for a moment before Derek began coughing. Soon blood gathered at the edge of his lips and Braeden's eyes widened. The Berserker must've caused internal damage when it wounded him. Derek couldn't heal from that anymore which meant that he had to go to a hospital. The problem was that they were at least a hundred miles from the nearest town. If he didn't get any help soon, he would die.

"Looks like Lydia was right," Derek sputtered out. He was thinking similar thoughts as her. He was dying.

Braeden looked about and realized that they were sitting ducks out here. But, she couldn't move Derek and she couldn't cover them both by herself. "Can you still pull a trigger?" she asked him.

"Yeah," he breathed.

Braeden then moved to give him her spare handgun with a full mag. "Stay with me. You're going to be okay."

Derek smiled breathlessly at her. "It's a mortal wound, and right now, I'm feeling pretty mortal." He then looked back down at his wound. "Braeden, listen, there's something I need you to do."

"You're going to be fine," she said cutting him off. She then looked out as she heard some faint sounds of movement in the dark.

"I need you to concentrate on saving yourself. So, you can go and find my friend Maggie in New York. She's been watching over my sister. I need you to-

But Braeden stood and cut him off again. "No. Save your strength, and watch my back," she told him as she grabbed her rifle and went off.

Braeden moved off a building close by and carefully looked around the corner. There was a view of the town square and it seemed empty. She sighed in relief as she looked at Derek to let him know that they might be okay right now. But, she looked back and saw a shadow within the fog. A moment later, a Berserker began to step out of it and slowly stepped towards her direction. Braeden quickly ducked and flattened her back against the wall and threw a nervous look Derek's way. His own face fell into worry and she went and cocked her gun.

* * *

Cora was screaming as her insides twisted and burned. Her razor sharp fangs were cutting into the insides of her lips as she growled through the pain in her lower body. The full moon was peeking through the shutters and all of this was making her completely give in to its pull. Cora felt hot all over her body as if her blood was boiling. With both the pregnancy and the full moon, she was practically a wild rabid animal. Her clawed wrists were pulling against the restraints binding her to the bed but they held against her intensity. There was a strap keeping her into the bed but she was shifting and tossing herself side to side in a vain effort to run from this influx of pain.

Maggie and her teacher were down at the foot of it, trying to help her deliver her child as safely as they could.

"Just a little longer Cora. Hang on," Maggie pleaded to her.

"I can feel the baby is trying to come out but it's having trouble. She's moving about too harshly and cutting it off. She needs to stop," her teacher told her.

"I know." Maggie got up and moved for her side. "Cora." As soon as she said her name Cora looked over at her with her shining yellow eyes and growled at her. Maggie flinched for a second but she kept her composure. She spoke back to her with a soft and comforting tone. "You're moving too much. You have to settle down and keep your body steady."

"I'm trying but, it's too much," she cried. "It hurts."

"Can't we try to sedate her? She's fighting both the pain of giving birth and the full moon."

Maggie's teacher rose to face her student. "Maggie, sedation won't work. The full moon is making Cora's core temperature and tolerance levels be at their peak, and the child has only made her even more stronger. The only way we have is for her to bear through it, or it might kill them both."

That made Maggie's blood run cold as she looked at the struggling girl lying there. Cora wasn't just her friend Laura and Derek's little sister. These past few months, she had become her friend too. She moved to grab at her hand, the nails scratching into her skin a bit but she bared it. "Cora, listen to me, I know it's hard and it hurts but if you can't stop yourself then it will only get worse. You could die. Both of you could die and I know that your family has been through enough of that. Okay, you're strong and not just cause you're a werewolf. It's because you have lived and been through so much in your life, ever since the fire. Most wouldn't have been able to do that Cora, but you did so I know you can do this too."

Cora's moved to lock her glowing eyes at her and slowly began to let her body go limp on the bed. Her breathing was still deep but it was slowing down a bit. Maggie moved to rub at Cora's sweaty forehead and she nodded.

After that, Cora was trying to divert her strength in pushing and keeping herself as still as she could through the pain instead of trying to get away. She grit her fanged teeth as she went and pushed when she was told to. Maggie was back at the foot of the bed with her teacher as they worked into finishing the delivery.

"Okay," her teacher said. "Just one more hard push should do it."

Maggie rose her head up. "Cora, your baby is almost out. Push. Push!"

Cora let out a deep scream as she gave one final push and didn't stop until she started to feel a drop in pressure. Suddenly, her ears picked up a shrill voice crying on top of her own. As she heard it, she felt her body going limp as everything around her started to dim as her eyes closed.

* * *

Lydia and Mason didn't know how long they had stayed there in hiding but after a while, the heavy growling seemed to finally go silent. Lydia didn't want to waste this chance.

"Okay, c'mon," she told him.

But Mason pulled her back before she could get up. "No. There's only one way out on this side of the basement." And that way was where the sounds had been coming from.

"I know,' she gasped at him. "But if we don't get out of here then someone is going to die."

Mason narrowed his eyes at her. "How do you know that?"

"I just do." She really did. She could feel it. "We have to at least see if he's blocking the exit."

Mason let out a heated breath before he slowly stepped forward to check the hall. For a second, all seemed good. That is until a Berserker slowly stepped forward from a space not too far away. That made Mason jump right back into the wall.

"Yeah, he's blocking it," he told her frantically.

Lydia looked over and saw that the Berserker was now standing firmly in the middle of the hall, in plain sight and was looking straight at their direction. No doubt trying to scare them into staying put and not trying to dare escape. She then looked over to see that there was a small bin with some sports equipment including a few baseball bats close by. Lydia realized that she had enough.

"That's it," she said as she went to pull one out.

"Wait," Mason said grabbing her wrist. "Are you serious?"

"Very," she said not skipping a beat.

Mason's eyes shot out wide. "A baseball bat? Against that guy, thing or whatever that is?"

Lydia turned to glare at him. "My best friends are in trouble and so is Liam, your best friend." That made him back up a tab. "They need me and I'm going for it." She then started to head to the Berserker who was still standing there unflinchingly. "And yes, with a baseball bat," she grumbled as she raised it at the ready.

But she only got ten feet away from him when Mason sighed and grabbed for another one of the bats and ran for the Berserker ahead of her. He went and threw a swing at the thing's chest but it didn't faze it. It went and thrust its hand at him and sent Mason flying down the hall. Lydia quickly went and swung for it's head but the Berserker blocked it with it's bone enforced arm. She quickly swung two more times but it blocked those two and struck her. She went flying and landed right beside Mason.

"I thought you said they were going to keep us here, not hurt us," he grunted out in pain.

"I think it changed its mind," she cried as the Berserker started to go for them.

But there was then a small explosion that went off at its back like a firecracker exploded. The Berserker faltered in its stance and turned around to see Henry Tate standing a few yards down the hall. He had thrown one of The Bomber's custom made detonating knives. which blew when it got stuck in the back of the Berserker's armor.

"Sorry, heads up," he said as the creature let a deep throat growl under its mask. Henry held up another one and hit the built in trigger on it and threw it. "Now think fast!" The Berserker swatted the knife away with it's arm and made it land harmlessly to the side, at least for about three seconds before it blew and sparks started flying and burning parts of it's body. It then roared as it went to stomp for Tate. He backed away a few steps before looking to the side. "Now!" he screamed.

"Hey!" Then the Sheriff came out from around the corner. "Catch!" he said as he threw something at the Berserker.

It caught it and looked down to see that it was a mortar. Henry ran into the nearest storage room and closed the door behind him while Noah ducked back into his hiding spot and hit the button. Immediately, the mortar went off and exploded. Debris flew everywhere as the Berserker was blown to pieces. Henry opened the door and came out of the storage room while Lydia and Mason came out from hiding coughing slightly.

"You all okay?" Noah asked as they gathered to where there was a pile of charcoal and bones where the Berserker stood.

Mason was just staring wide eyed at how the Sheriff and Mr. Tate used explosive weapons on the Berserker so Lydia was left to answer for both of them with a nod. Noah then bent down to pick up the fractured skull and gave it a look.

"It was after me," Lydia realized. "It wanted me to stay in Beacon Hills. I think this was all some sort of distraction."

"To keep you from warning your friends," said Henry. "About Kate and Peter."

"Make sure that they didn't know who they wanted to kill, right?" said Noah and Lydia nodded slowly.

"Kill? Who?" asked Mason.

Lydia's face fell. "Scott. They want Stiles to kill him," she said looking at the Sheriff. "And then, they'll kill him."

* * *

Braeden let loose a volley of buckshots against the Berserker but it hardly faltered in it's charge. When Braeden ran out of ammo, and the Berserker was in arms reach, she turned the gun in her hold and swung it like a bat at the creature's head. The Berserker held up its hand and blocked it before it sent the weapon flying off from her grip. It then grabbed at her throat with its other hand, lifting her into the air.

"Braeden!" Derek coughed out through the blood in his mouth. He limply lifted the handgun but the gun was shaking in his grip. He couldn't hold it steady and Braeden was slightly in the way of his line of fire. He couldn't find a way to have a clear shot, especially as everything was getting blurry. His raised hand then just dropped with the gun falling coldly to the ground, out of his reach.

Braeden tried to break free from the Berserker's grasp. She bumped her fists at the hand on her throat and tried to kick herself loose but it's grip on her was relentless. But there was a sudden rumbling sound approaching and they all looked to the side to see a small slew of cars approaching, with a minivan at the front. The Berserker dropped Braeden as the van pulled up close to them. The driver was Jordan Parrish and he stopped the van and began firing off shots with his handgun. The passenger door flew up and Chris Argent stepped out, mid-section bandaged up, and began shooting at the Berserker with an automatic rifle. He grit his teeth in discomfort as the recoil shook him and tempered his injuries. The other cars stopped and men flew out and starting shooting at the Berserker as well. The new barrage of bullets sent the Berserker recoiling and it retreated into cover. Some of the men ran after it while the rest secured the area. One of them, was Araya Calavera and she stopped right in front of Braeden to give her a satisfied smirk.

Over with Chris, he leaned against the front of the van, trying to catch his breath. After Parrish helped him out of the tunnels, he wanted to take the former hunter to the hospital but Chris insisted that they couldn't waste the time. He had told Parrish to take them to Mexico while he tried to stabilize his wound and inject himself with more of his painkillers. But, it seemed that it was too much pain and damage to be numbed completely.

Parrish moved over to him. "Hey, you have to take it easy."

"Don't worry about me," Chris grunted. "Worry about them," he muttered as he looked over to where Derek was lying and was being joined by Braeden.

The deputy nodded as he moved to head for Derek while Chris pulled himself straight and headed to the back of the van. He opened the back door and grabbed a new gun and opened the barrel. He reached into an ammo box and pulled out a special tranq shot that was filled with a yellow liquid. He gave it a look before he loaded it in and slammed the door shut and moved quickly for the temple.

Braeden quickly moved for Derek as she saw that he wasn't moving. His eyes were closed and it looked like he wasn't breathing. "Derek!" she cried as she tried to shake him out of it. "Derek, wake up!"

Derek blinked his eyes open. He caught her eyes and smiled at her. "Sorry," he managed to mumble. "Tell them I'm sorry."

His eyes shut themselves and his head rolled to the side. Braeden's eyes widened as she frightfully tried to shake him.

"Hey," Parrish called out as he got to them. "Where's Peter?"

"What? Peter? Why?" she asked breathlessly at him. "He went into the temple with the others."

Parrish grit his teeth. "He and a Berserker left Argent to die over at the water treatment plant back in Beacon Hills."

Her gaze dropped a bit. "So we were right."

"We?" asked Parrish. He then looked over at Derek. "What's happened to him? Is he-?"

Braeden moved to grab her gun and began moving to reload it. "Yeah," she said stiffly. She wanted nothing more than to find the Berserker and blow its head off.

But Parrish tilted his head at Derek with a curious look on his face. "Are you sure?" He didn't know why but he didn't feel like he was looking at a dead man.

There was a giant roar off to the side which was quickly followed by the sound of gunfire and then screaming. The Berserker was cutting its way through the Calaveras hunters one by one. It went and cut through the spray of bullets from one hunter and stabbed its claws through his heart. It then managed to grab another one by the neck and lifted him into the air before it slamming him to the ground hard enough to break it. One hunter was grabbed and then thrown into air and crashed through a boarded window of one of the ruined buildings.

Severo Calavera moved out to the center of a street and let out a spray of bullets from his automatic rifle which had the Berserker running into the shadows for cover. Araya moved to stand at his back as they scanned the area around them. There was a sound to her left and Araya caught a glimpse of the Berserker running so she let out a few shots from her gun but they bounced off as it ran for cover again. Then Severo caught sight of the Berserker's shape in the distance and fired in that direction. There was a roar as it ran off again. Severo focused his gaze into the dark, waiting for any sign of the Berserker. There was some rustling up ahead and he and Araya aimed their guns in that direction. Something came rushing out but it wasn't the Berserker but a body of one of their hunters. It came flying at them and they fell to the ground to try and avoid it. Araya lifted her head to catch the sight of the Berserker stomping for her. Severo got to his feet and moved to swing his gun at it but it raised it's arm to block the hit and then grabbed the gun and threw it off into the dark. It then thrust its arm at Severo's chest and sent him colliding into a nearby wall. Araya found that she had lost her gun in the fall and saw it in a few feet in front of her, in the Berserker's direction. The Berserker turned it's head slowly to look at her and she began to move away from it. It stomped for her but was stopped by a shot to its left.

It came from Braeden who was standing behind a corner of a building. "Araya!" she yelled off. "I should really be charging you double for this!" She then moved out into the open and let loose some more shots at the Berserker.

Each shot made it sway a bit but it remained on it's feet. Then, from where Braeden stepped out, Jordan Parrish did and he moved to stand at her side and started shooting at the Berserker with her. The two fired together and actually made the creature step back a few steps in recoil. But then Parrish's gun clicked when his mag was empty and Braeden found she was empty too. The Berserker growled and roared as it started to quickly run for them. Parrish pulled at Braeden to run for cover but the two froze as they saw something running for them. They stiffened when they saw that it was a black wolf. It stopped in front of them and let its eyes glow blue.

"Derek?" Braeden gasped out.

"What?" said Parrish.

But the Berserker was still running for them and was almost at them. The wolf then quickly ran off and pounced at the Berserker. It clawed at its chest with its claws and the Berserker thrashed around to fight it off. The wolf stepped back and then began shifting around until a naked Derek stood there in it's place. He moved to grab the Berserker by its head and started squeezing it. Light began to shine out from the Berseker's body and Derek let out a hard roar at its face as it then went and exploded into pieces.

Parrish was in awe. He never knew that werewolves were able to turn into actual wolves like that. As for Braeden, she was in shock that she was staring at Derek. She looked down at his side to see that his wound was healed.

"How?" she asked. "I thought you were dead."

He took a deep breath and let out a winded sigh. "I wasn't dying. I was evolving."

Not too far away, Araya was glaring in their direction.

* * *

"Let's try to confuse it," Liam cried out as he ducked from getting swiped at the head.

"How?" Malia said as she jumped back to avoid getting struck by one of its claws.

The two of them were taking any chance to throw hits against the Berserker when they felt they could but it didn't look like it had taken much. Most of their energy was being spent making sure they didn't get hit.

"Stay on either side of it."

Malia moved to be at it's back while Liam stayed at it's front. Malia then sent a kick at it's back which made it turn around for her but as soon as it did, Liam moved in and clawed it at its side. It moved to try and strike back at Liam but he avoided it and Malia took advantage threw a punch for its upper torso.

As Liam and Malia were engaging that one Berserker, Stiles was trying to avoid letting the one he was fighting get any kind of ground on him. He found that this one, while smaller than the others they've fought, was also faster and more limber making it harder to avoid it's blows. But Stiles was finding that his attacks were more effective on this one as a trade-off. It made a surprise thrust forward and backhanded Stiles at the side of his head. Stiles flinched for a second, then pushed through it and grit his fangs as he quickly bumped his shoulder hard into his Berserker's chest. The sudden force made it stumble back three steps but stay on its feet. It let out a deep grumble before it charged for him. Stiles was now jumping back to avoid it's attempts to slash into him with its bony claws. Stiles then turned and ran back into the closest support pillar and jumped at it as the Berserker gave chase. He kicked off from it and launched himself at the Berserker and sent a hard kick that connected solidly with its chest. The Berserker flew off and landed with its back flat on the altar.

Stiles was breathing more deeply after he made that hit and felt the heat in him rising. It was like everything he built up at the start of this night was being channeled by him and getting unleashed here and now. Even for a full moon, he doesn't know if he had ever felt this strong before. He caught a glimpse of Liam and Malia in the corner of his eye and saw that they were holding their own and even starting to overwhelm their Berserker. He wondered if this is what Peter was talking about when he talked of the upper hand they would have tonight against them. But as that thought entered his mind, Stiles let himself use that reprieve to scan the rest of the room but found that Peter was nowhere in sight. He saw that Kate was leaning against the far wall, watching them all fight with her usual smug look but there was no sign of her suspected partner around whatsoever. If his fears about him were right, then he might have taken this time and gone off to do who knows what he had Kate bring Scott here and take his power. They had to find them, quickly. Stiles was so distracted by his thoughts that he didn't even notice that the claws on his fingertips were starting to extend a bit and get longer and pointier as they hung at his side. His train of thoughts were cut off though when the Berserker got off the altar and back on its feet. It looked like it was mad and ready for more as it let out an even harder growl than before. Stiles answered by baring his fangs as he let a deep growl at it to show that he was ready to give it more. They ran for each other again.

Kate was off to the side, pleasantly watching as the two teenagers who gave her so much trouble and grief intensified their attacks in their bid to kill the other. She nearly jumped seeing Stiles using a variation of the move he used on her back at the hospital to attack his best friend. "This is getting good," she muttered to both to herself and to her ally that she knew was lurking not too far as he watched the show. It would only be a matter of time now. Either Scott finally killed that sarcastic friend of his or Stiles would kill Scott and be left tired and broken for her to kill him. She couldn't lose. But then Kate's face suddenly fell. A sudden gaping hole began to fill her insides. "What the hell?" she gasped. Suddenly, she had an image of the high school in Beacon Hills pop into her head. The Berserker she sent there…it was gone! She couldn't feel it's presence anymore. Something must've happened.

Peter was watching from a thick pillar on the far corner of the room as he observed the fighting. It looked like Malia was handling herself quite well. She was attacking the Berserker aggressively with no hesitation and was managing to limit getting too heavily hurt as she made her strikes. He allowed himself to feel a small bit of pride swelling up. He then let his eyes fall on the fight between Scott and Stiles. So far, everything seemed to be going as planned. Stiles was oblivious to the fact that he was fighting the very person he was trying to save and there was no trace of Scott left to recognize his best friend. He had to fight the urge to laugh in giddiness as he looked over at where Kate was observing the spectacles. She seemed to be enjoying it just as he was but she then suddenly started fidgeting and backing up into a wall, as if she was in pain. His smile deepened. Things really were going to plan now.

Stiles was struck with a punch to the chest that sent him stumbling back into the pillar that he used to gain the momentum for that kick against the Berserker earlier. Stiles stayed there for a moment as the thing charged for him with it's right bone claws. Stiles leapt to the side and just avoided it as the Berserker cut into the stone. It tried to slash at him with its other hand but Stiles slashed at it first and his claws cut off and broke the ones on the Berserker's hand. It stepped back in recoil as it looked at it's now destroyed weapon. But then it turned around and Stiles followed its vision to see that Kate looked like she was in sudden pain. Stiles wanted to take advantage of the Berserker's new distraction and finish it off but a pained scream made him turn away.

Malia had been grabbed by the Berserker's having a sudden and surprise reflex and thrown to the ground as she screamed in pain. As Malia lay dazed on the ground, it moved to stab its bone claws at her back but Liam jumped thrust his claws into the thing's back. It then started to move to try and throw the young beta off. Malia got to one knee and quickly stabbed her claws into the creature's abdomen making it be stunning it for a moment. Malia's face widened as she saw the Berserker ready to strike at her with its claws but then there was a loud roar as Stiles jumped for them and struck his claws into the thing's chest. He broke through the bone armor and felt his claws pierce the heart. Liam gave a roar as he pushed his claws in even harder and Malia stood up and put her body into forcing her claws in deeper. Suddenly, the Berserker started to light up as it started shaking in place as the three of them kept their claws stabbed into the thing and together roared loudly at it. The Berserker let out a terrible screeching howl before it exploded into dust.

Not too far away, Kira was moving through the dim tunnels, trying to find her way to Scott, when she heard the collective roars and recognized them as belonging to her friends. She rushed in the direction they came from, hoping that she wasn't too late.

Kate had felt a rush of pain a little while after she felt that surprise void filling her earlier. The Berserker that she had manning the surface, it had been destroyed. She could feel its loss but it was actually painful compared to the one lost at the high school. She guessed that it was because this one was lost much closer to her. Her feet then gave out when it happened again. Right after the three kids just destroyed the Berserker only a few feet away from her. It was like pieces of her insides were getting ripped away from her. She was losing her Berserkers. All that she had left now was Scott. He was standing off to the side, staring at her as if it were his new way of showing concern for her. She glared at it and wished with every fiber of her being that he go and destroy those three in the most savage way possible.

As the three stared at one another, breathless and speechless as to what just happened, at their feet was a pile of ash and bones that used to be a terrifying Berserker. They had destroyed it. Stiles, Malia and Liam found their faces shifting to normal but their eyes still glowed and claws were still out. And at their feet, there were dim outlines of their shadows from the dim moonlight shining through the cracks overhead. One of them looking like they possessed a tail.

Liam was shaking his head. The thing that haunted his dreams and mind for weeks was literal dust in the wind. "Did we really-?"

But he didn't get to have a chance to fully process that as Liam was suddenly grabbed from behind and thrown off into a pillar. Malia turned to go on the attack but the Berserker went and flung one of its broken claw bones at her and it got stuck right into her shoulder.

"Malia!" Stiles cried as he saw his girlfriend drop. He turned to face the Berserker and his eyes flared up even brighter which seemed to agitate the Berserker and it stomped for him. The hand still sporting claws moved to swipe at him but Stiles jumped and caught it by its wrist. Stiles then grabbed at it shoulder with his other hand and moved to throw a headbutt straight into it's bone covered face. The moment his forehead connected, Stiles suddenly found himself somewhere else. He realized that he was still in the same room, but was now gazing at the altar and Scott was lying on it, bound and helpless. He then saw Kate holding the skull, a smirk on her face as she was lowering it to Scott's face. He could hear Scott's screaming no to her and practically taste his fear and terror as it got slapped on. Stiles then gasped as he pulled his head back and looked into the eyes of the skull. One time, he had told Scott about the feeling of staring into the eyes of a friend in a mask and feeling like you know them even if you weren't sure who it actually was. But he knew. "It's you," he mumbled.

But Stiles grunted painfully before he could say anything else. The blue glow of his eyes faded as his mouth hung open. He looked down and saw that there was a bone stabbed into his side. Scott had used his free hand to pull at one of the other bones hanging at his belt and stab it in him like he did to Kira. And the kitsune had just stepped into the room just in time to see Scott stab his friend. She took a step forward and her foot bumped into something. She looked down to see that it was her sword.

As Peter watched, he knew that he had to step in. It had to be Scott that died first and then Stiles, not the other way around. If Scott made Stiles his Second then he would inherit his power after he died but Stiles couldn't do that if he was dead.

"Stiles!" Malia cried out after she ripped the bone in her shoulder out.

Peter then got to her and handed her a wire cutter. "Save him and kill it!" he told her. "Kill it now!"

Malia ran to stab the Berserker and save Stiles, but the tip of the weapon was sliced off. She looked and saw that it was Kira.

"No," she cried

Liam then appeared and threw himself at the Berserker, causing it to let Stiles go and roll back a few steps.

"Kira?! What are you doing?!" Malia shouted at her.

"It's Scott!" she shouted back. "That's Scott!" Everyone then looked over at the Berserker as it stood tall and faced them. "Kate did that to him."

"What?" gasped Liam.

"Its true," Stiles grunted. He backed into a pillar after he was let go and leaned on it as he went and yanked the bone out of him. "That's Scott."

Scott then moved on to continue with Kate's order. He went for Liam first and struck him across the face. Liam was flat on the ground looking at Scott in fear as he moved to grab at him. But Malia moved to grab at Scott's arm. He moved and struck her in the stomach with his other hand.

"Scott, no!" Kira gasped at him.

Liam tried to crawl away but Scott moved after him. But then Stiles stepped in front of him, one hand holding on to his stab wound and the other extended in a calming fashion. "Scott, please. It's me."

But Scott moved to grab Stiles by the throat and lift him off the ground.

"Don't. Scott, please don't," Kira cried out to him.

Scott didn't listen. He grabbed Stiles and pushed him up against a pillar as he tightened his hold on him. Driven to kill him as per Kate's wish.

"Scott!" Liam ran forward and grabbed at the arm holding Stiles there. "No!" But Scott went and grabbed Liam with his other hand and lifted him up too. Kira and Malia moved to head to them but Liam stopped them. "No!" he choked out at them, frantically shaking his head at them. He didn't want them to get closer.

"Scott, it's us," Stiles choked out. "Your friends. Your pack."

"You're not a monster!" Liam cried making Scott turn to look at him. "You're a werewolf like me. Like your friend Stiles."

That was what Scott had told him on the night of his first full moon. Suddenly, the grip he had on both of them settled and he let them drop back down to their feet. Scott stumbled back as he looked at his hands, as he slowly came back to his senses. He was thrashing around, ripping the bones around him off. He then began to try and rip the skull over his head off. Everyone was silently watching, his friends in awe but Kate and Peter with bitter anger. Scott tore it off and in a flash of light, he was free as he roared out, in his normal shifted face. Kate stood back up and everyone moved their gaze to her.

"No," Stiles told them. "Save it for him," he said as he glared over at Peter. "He's the one behind all of this, aren't you?"

Everyone looked at Peter with wide eyes, but none were wider in shock than Malia who was standing right by him.

Scott let out an angry breath as he locked his eyes on him. "The only person other than Argent that knew about Berserkers. And the Nagual. You taught Kate. You helped her."

"That was why you were so eager that we come here and not wait for Lydia," Stiles put in. "Leading the way and telling us to not hesitate with the Berserkers. You knew what Kate was really doing to Scott and you couldn't have Lydia warn us it was Scott that we were killing."

"Actually," Kate spoke out. "It was you who was supposed to kill Scott," she said making Stiles glare at her. "So you could claim his rank."

"So then he could kill Stiles and claim it himself." Scott stiffened in his stance as he kept his furious gaze on Peter. "Because you couldn't do it so you were hoping Stiles could since he was in my pack and strong enough," he said giving Stiles a small side glance before turning back to Peter. "You betrayed us. Betrayed Derek. Betrayed Malia. All for power," he spat at him.

"For my family's power," Peter spat at him and causing Malia to back away from him. "To be rightfully inherited by me. Not usurped by some teenage boy."

"That power is not yours!" Stiles spat and cut him off. "Never was. That power belonged to your sister Talia and was meant to be inherited by Laura until you murdered her and stole it! She's the one your sister chose as her Second! The right was hers because she was the one that deserved it, not you!" he said pointing an angered finger.

"Oh, and you think Scott deserves it?" Peter spat back. "An idiot so incorruptible that he won't shed the blood of his enemies even when justified. Whose only dreams, motivations and ambitions is being popular among other stupid high school kids, lacrosse team captain and getting the pretty new girl hanging off his arms. You don't deserve your power." His eyes then flared blue. "Not power like this." He then shifted fully with a monstrous face.

As he did, Kate shook her head. "Screw this," she muttered as she took off.

Stiles caught her running off and he broke into a run after her.

Malia growled and moved to attack Peter but he went and launched her off to the side.

"Oh, sorry sweetheart, we'll talk about this later," Peter said dismissively before he turned to face the rest.

Kira moved to face off against him but Scott stopped her. "No." He moved to fight Peter. He had to deal with him.

Peter chuckled at him. "You were my beta first Scott. It was my bite that turned you and changed your life. And my bite that can end it."

"Then end it Peter, because you won't get another chance."

"Oh, I will. And after I do, I'll go and end Stiles' life. My second beta, and your Second," he said with a smirk.

Scott growled and charged at him at the same time that Peter did.

* * *

Stiles was running through the tunnels, trying to make sure that Kate didn't escape. He was going to make sure she didn't get another chance to do any of this to them again. As Stiles turned into a corridor, there was a roar as Kate jumped out from a corner and went for him, teeth and claws blaring. She stabbed them into Stiles' back and he let out a pained growl.

"Peter could have Scott. I only want you," she growled into his ear.

Stiles moved and swung his elbow around and it connected with the side of her face. She was forced back and Stiles turned to be face to face with her. "You just can't get over your craving for teenage boys, can you?" he said to her bitterly.

"In your dreams kid," she said breathlessly with a smirk.

"More like my nightmares." He then moved for her as Kate ran for him.

Stiles was still feeling the pain from his stab wound and some loss of strength and fatigue from his battle with Scott. If there was a chance for Kate to kill Stiles, it would be now. However, Kate didn't account for her own loss of power. The destruction of her Berserkers had taken an unexpected toll. Kate went and drove her claws into his shoulder which made Stiles grit his teeth in pain. But his eyes flared blue and he charged them forward and rammed her into a wall. She gasped in pain before he went and grabbed at her head and slammed it against the wall. She cried out as her face shifted back to normal. He then went and slashed his claws across her chest which made her claws in his shoulder recede as she went and fell to the ground. Stiles stood there, glaring at Kate as she moved to try and sit upright.

Kate felt the new pain rushing all over her body. "Yeah, I forget," she grunted. "Unlike Scott, you don't mind hurting people."

"Not true. I just don't have any problem laying it on anyone who tries to hurt someone I love or protect," he panted out as he towered over her.

"How noble," she said condescendingly.

"It's over Kate. You're finished, for good."

She chuckled at him. "Yeah, I guess it does look that way. But, you're forgetting one important thing."

"What's that?" he grumbled.

"I'm an Argent." She then reached behind her back and pulled out a handgun. "We always carry around an arsenal."

Stiles quickly ran off to avoid the barrage of shots coming his way. He jumped and ducked behind a semi collapsed wall as Kate stood and shot for it as she slowly stepped his way. Stiles moved to take a look and barely ducked his head back in time as the shot rang out. But, the bullet did graze him and he was sporting a slight red gaze at his lower cheek. But then he heard a click of an empty round being fired. Stiles moved to try and jump Kate before she could reload. He ran for her but Kate then raised her other hand to reveal a second gun in that one.

"Damn," he muttered as he realized he was tricked. He was now out in the open and fully exposed.

Kate dropped the empty gun in her first hand. "Decided to take a leaf out of my brother's book, and start to carry two." She raised the barrel so that the gun was aimed right for Stiles' head. "Honestly, I think I prefer to kill you this way. Clean and precise, just like the good old days."

"Kate!" They then looked over to see that her brother Chris was standing there. He was holding a handgun too, and pointing it at his sister. "Drop it," he told her sternly.

"Again Chris? Still not pointing that gun at the right person from the start," she said condescendingly.

"Oh, I am. Now put the gun down, I won't be telling you again."

"Really? You're taking their side? _His_ side? The one who went and publicly humiliated me and smeared my name and place in our family before my coffin was even in the ground."

"All of which you rightfully deserved. Everything he said and did was the truth. He was completely justified."

"So he was justified in what he did to your daughter? Killing Allison?"

"Allison died to protect her friends!" Chris cried out to her.

" _Friends_?!" she spat out. "This?" Stiles was glaring at her. "You call this mutt one of Allison's friends? I know for a fact that this erratic little bastard hated her."

Chris moved to look at Stiles' hard face as he stared back at him. He sighed and turned his gaze back to his sister. "And whose fault was that Kate? It was ours. It wasn't Allison's. Not Scott's. Not even Stiles' fault. It was us. Me, you, Victoria and Gerard. We went and ruined Allison's first real relationship with a loving and caring young man." He then looked over and noticed the pendant hanging around Stiles' neck. The one that he made for Allison, and had given to him. "And we cost her the chance to potentially have had what would've been a fiercely loyal and protective friend."

Kate shook her head as she stared at her brother in pity. "You can't see them clearly anymore, can you? But I still do." She was moving to shoot Stiles but Chris fired first. His yellow wolfsbane laced bullet hit Kate right in the torso. Stiles ducked his head in shock as Chris went and fired two more shots. One at her arm and the other at her leg. Kate was then forced on her knees. She slowly looked at her brother who was staring now at her in pity. "You want to kill me Chris?"

"No, but I don't want to save you anymore either. I don't know that you're worth saving."

She shook her head. "You're not going to kill me."

But then there was a sudden flash of movement as a hard fist went and collided with her face, knocking her out. Chris' eyes widened as he looked up at Stiles as he just let out a breathless sigh.

"Sorry but, I've had enough of dysfunctional family drama for one day." Stiles then moved to take the pendant off and gathered the necklace's chain in his hand. "You probably want this back now."

Chris sighed as he limped forward and took it. He looked at it for a moment before he went and held it out. "This was never meant to be mine. It's Allison's and I think she would want you to keep holding onto it." Stiles went and took it back "Do you think we should kill her?" he then asked.

"Scott wouldn't want to," Stiles shrugged.

"I'm not asking what Scott would want to do, I'm asking what you want to do. Scott may be the Alpha but he didn't catch her. You did."

"She's your sister," Stiles reminded him.

But Chris shook his head. "She isn't mine to decide what to do with now. She's yours."

Stiles jaw tightened a bit as his fingers rubbed against the pendant he was holding in his hand.

* * *

Scott and Peter were clashing all around the room as Kira, Malia and Liam watched from the sidelines. While Scott clearly had more power, he was still exhausted and nursing the wounds and pain inflicted on him during his battle with Stiles. Peter might not be quite as powerful but he was fresh and at his full strength. Scott tried to force Peter into a corner but the mad werewolf managed to get through his defenses. Scott tried to block the blows Peter threw but the man grabbed him and then threw him across the room to collide with a pillar.

"Pathetic," Peter spat as he moved to grab Scott and throw him into another pillar. "Fight like an Alpha Scott!" he said as the boy laid there on the ground. He moved to grab Scott and dragged him to his feet but Scott moved to grab him with both his hands and pushed him into the pillar. He then lifted Peter up and slammed him into the ground, flat on his back. He then bent down and lay a few shots at his chest but Peter pushed back at him with his feet. Peter stood up and grabbed Scott as he then went and slammed his head into the boy's face. He threw some punches to his face and torso, forcing him to his knees. "You want to defeat me? You're going to have to kill me!" He then went and threw him across the room.

Liam was starting to have enough of this. He couldn't see Scott get beaten anymore. He'd seen what werewolves were capable of. Stiles showed him and trained him about it during their times together. He knew that an Alpha like Scott could win but he was holding himself back. He just needed to get angry, and he thinks he knew just how to make Scott that way. Liam tried to move forward but both Peter and Scott noticed him. Peter quickly grabbed a rotting church bench and hurled it at the kid. Liam ducked just as it shattered above him. He then looked at Scott who was staring at him. "I shouldn't be getting angry," Liam muttered to him. "But maybe you should be."

Scott glared as he went and picked himself up. Peter looked back at Scott and chuckled at him in amusement. He then went to throw a punch at him but Scott slapped it away. Peter tried again but Scott brushed that one off too. Kira and Malia were starting to calm themselves a bit as Liam shook his head in support. No hit Peter was making was getting through and Scott went and struck him hard in the chest, and then grabbed and threw him to land on the altar.

Scott jumped to stand over him. "You were never an Alpha Peter but you were always a monster."

He just smirked at him. "No less a monster than your best friend. After all, he has these eyes too, doesn't he? And he's the one you left to be the Alpha after you."

Scott's jaw tightened a bit. Peter growled angrily as he tried to attack Scott but he moved to punch him across the face and knock the man out. Liam, Malia and Kira moved to start heading over to Scott as he turned to look at the altar. The place where he had been tied and made into a Berserker to try and kill his friends and force them to try and kill him.

* * *

Maggie's teacher was at the outskirts of town, meeting with the Alpha of the area, Oscar. She was there to learn how it went with the Alpha's newest recruit as well as make her own report of the situation with Cora Hale.

"Charlie Harris, that was his name, correct?" she asked him. "Age 26, unmarried and moved to town less than two months ago after completing his military training and got his degree to become an architect."

"Yes, fit the profile," he grunted out as he kept looking out into the distant wilderness under the early morning sun. "He was right where you said he'd be last night. Surveying the land of the condemned steel mill. He was completely alone."

"I assume you approved, given the fact you bit him," she stiffly said. "I must say that I was thrown from your request. You've never commissioned a screening process when it came to recruiting betas before."

Oscar stood there stiffly, not turning to look back at the emissary. But it wasn't from discomfort or shame, but confidence blended together with mild arrogance. It had been over seven years since he first met the two young Hales and somewhat longer since he had become the Alpha of the area. He had achieved stability and was now seeking to expand beyond his marked territory and the first step to that was a larger pack.

"Yes, it's time for talent scouting and Charlie was perfect. Young, strong and has ample fight training, exactly what I need. He's being watched by two members of the pack now as he's nursing the bite he received in his animal attack. I'll induct him in when he begins to show effects. This will bring my pack's numbers up to eight and this is only be the beginning." Oscar straightened up a bit before looking back at the woman. "But enough about that. What more have you learned of Cora Hale's child?"

"Not much more I'm afraid, other than the child is a boy."

"Your student has told you nothing?"

"Nothing, and I have asked. She's clearly trying to protect Cora and her child which probably means that our hunch about the identity of the father is correct."

Oscar moved to look back at the horizon. "For a while, I've been sensing that forces are being set into motion and I'm sure that the pack in Beacon Hills and Laura's brother are in the center of it. Last night, after I bit Charlie, I felt new shifts in the air and I bet I wasn't the only one who did. It's a sign. Hard and dark times are ahead and pieces are already starting to come together and I can be certain whose hands are guiding it all. I can feel it and I'm sure that pompous douchebag Deucalion did as well. If I'm not ready when it all arrives then I'll be one of the many to fall. That's why I can't afford to waste time turning and training hapless people, especially now. I need to swell and empower my pack with stronger than average members and at the same time, make myself stronger as well. And if the stirrings are right about that boy in Beacon Hills, and if he is the father of Cora Hale's child, then two very valuable assets have come within my grasp."

"Assets against Stilinski? How? The boy and his wolf were broken. The power is lost now," the emissary rationalized.

But Oscar chuckled. "Oh, I wouldn't be too sure. My father was a handyman and he once told me that what's often broken can be repaired to be stronger than ever. Power as mighty as that doesn't just disappear. It'll be back, probably soon, but until then I have to keep Laura's sister and her boy close so we'll pretend to not be the wiser for the moment. I'll be the one to succeed where Deucalion failed and accomplish his dream."

"Sounds as if I'll be soon to witness something spectacular then." His emissary bowed his head.

A somewhat hungry gleam came over Oscar's eyes while the woman had a calculating one in hers.

A little while later, the emissary was entering her home and moved to her room where she moved a painting on the wall to reveal a safe. She entered a code and opened it to reveal a phone which she took and hit the preset number. There were a few seconds of dial tone sounds before there was a click at the other end of the line.

"Yes it's me," she muttered to the listener. "Everything is happening as you predicted but it looks like Oscar may present a wrinkle to the plans." There was then some talking on the other end which made her frown. "Are you sure?" She heard the response and nodded. "Yes, of course. Don't worry, I'll be ready to do my part when the time comes." She then hung up.

* * *

Outside the temple, dawn was breaking and everyone was in the final stages of cleanup. Derek had gotten a fresh change of clothes that he borrowed from Parrish and they along with Braeden were loading the unconscious forms of Peter and Kate into the back of the truck.

"Will this hold them?" Parrish asked as he closed the doors.

"They've been drugged and after they suffered through a lot of pain," answered Chris as he came over to them. "They'll probably be out for a day or two."

"But before we get into any of that," said Braeden before pointing off a little aways to where there were two groups of people staring at each other.

Araya was standing with the handful of hunters she had left as they stared down the group of teenagers that emerged virtually unscathed after everything they've been through. Scott and his pack were staring right back at the hunters, tension thick in the air. The old hunter didn't like the fact that such young shifters were getting to be so strong. Add in the fact that they captured both Kate Argent and Peter Hale as well as destroyed all her Berserkers while she and her hunters did not. She found that troubling.

"You shouldn't be taking La Loba," she finally said to them.

"Kate's caught," Scott said as he was leaning on Kira for support. The adrenaline and power of the full moon from last night were gone and he was drained. "She's going somewhere where she won't ever hurt anyone again."

"She's not yours to do as you see fit," she told him.

Stiles stepped forward. "Well, seeing as how we caught her in over one month while you and your goon squad had over a year, I think she is." Malia, Liam, Braeden and Parrish let loose small amused smirks at that and even Derek and Chris were trying not to be amused.

Araya narrowed her eyes at him before they fell on Liam. "Scott, do you not remember my warning to you? I told you what would happen if you made a wolf of your own. That I would cross your borders, and yet, here you are in mine."

Scott bit back some discomfort. "You don't know what happened," he tried to explain.

"Doesn't matter. I told you what would happen if you went and turned someone."

"And you had no right to," Stiles cut in as he rose to speak in defense of his friend. Everyone tensed up as the boy cut the stern hunter off. But Stiles wasn't afraid and wouldn't bend to them. Not to her or her men any more than he had been willing to for Gerard and his hunters. "What Scott does in his own home is his own damn business. It's not any of yours so you're going to leave us alone and not bother us because we aren't hurting anybody. You've done enough damage in our lives so stay out of them if you know what's good for you."

There was then several clicks behind Araya and she smirked confidently at Stiles. "You were saying mijo?"

"I think you heard him just fine," Chris' voice rang out.

Araya turned around and saw that Braeden, Parrish and Derek were the ones that had their guns out on her men. Chris had his gun out and pointed directly at Severo who was glaring heatedly to the side.

"You're standing with them? Against the code?"

He glared right at her. "I'm not a hunter anymore. I'm a protector."

Araya then turned to see that Malia and Liam were standing on either side of Stiles, staring them down. "Scott?" she said to the Alpha.

Scott couldn't say that he liked where this was going, but right now, he was just too exhausted and tired to care. "I think my Second made my point for me," Scott sighed out. He and Kira moved to stand with the rest of their friends to stare them down. It was a few minutes later when he and Chris stood together and watched the cars carrying the Calaveras all driving off. "Do you really think they'll leave us alone?" Scott asked Chris as they went into the distance.

Chris' face tightened a bit. "Something tells me that Araya and her hunters will be having their hands too full to be worrying about any of you any time soon." He then looked over at the transport van. "And I'll be personally seeing that Kate and Peter are safely contained."

Scott nodded in thanks. Chris then looked over to the side and Scott followed his vision to find it was at Stiles as he was relaxing with Malia and Liam. Stiles looked up and caught Chris' gaze for a moment. They stared at each other before they moved to turn away from each other. Scott felt a change between those two. He just wondered if it was good or bad, silently praying it was the former.

Derek was off to the side with Braeden. "You're not really a US Marshall, are you?" he asked her.

"I was but I spent too long looking for one person. It's hard to keep a job when part of it becomes an obsession."

"Who were you after?"

"All I know is a code name. The Desert Wolf."

"Really," Derek mumbled as he gave a nod. That was the name of Malia's mother. He wondered what would make a woman like Braeden have been so obsessed with her. "And you never found anything?"

She shook her head. "Take care Derek. Of you and your sister."

Which reminded him, he had quite the phone call to make. But as he was going off for his car, he caught sight of Scott. He was staring at him. He had told Scott that he would be leaving after they caught Kate, and they had. He seemed to realize that this was goodbye. Derek nodded to him and Scott nodded back. They didn't have to say anything to know how the other felt. Derek then moved his gaze over to Stiles. He remembered the way he handled Liam on the ride over here, and now when he stood his ground against Araya. He wouldn't admit it outright, but he thought that Stiles could actually, probably make a decent Alpha, maybe.

"You got yourself a good Second there Scott. Try to not let him have to take the mantle too soon," he said as he went off.

Scott had heard what Derek said. "Yeah, I'll try." He stood there as he watched Derek get into his car and went for his phone. Scott was going to rejoin his friends who were moving to ride off with Parrish back to Beacon Hills. He and all his friends were looking forward to the chance to do some sleeping on the drive back home. But he then caught some words from Derek's conversation. Cora had her baby last night and he now had a nephew. Derek was surprised as it was around a month early. Scott was stunned and curious. He thought this was something that happened to Cora recently. But if his math was right, that would mean that Cora must've gotten pregnant around the time just before she left Beacon Hills. He then remembered when Stiles had told him that he had lost his virginity, to…Scott's eyes widened. "Oh god," he mumbled to himself.

* * *

Cora was blinking her eyes awake as she caught the sight of sunlight. She found herself lying on the bed, unrestrained and a glass of water ready on the table nearby. She moved to drink it before calling out for Maggie. In less than half a minute, the door opened and Maggie came on in with a look of relief over her.

"Oh, you're awake," she sighed.

"How long was I out?"

"Uh, a little over six hours. Considering how taxed you were, with having the baby and the full moon, it's really not that surprising. How do you feel?"

Cora went and moved to sit up and found that she felt a bit weak but otherwise okay. She had a feeling that if it weren't for her healing, she wouldn't be able to move a muscle. But she didn't care about that. "Is it okay?" Cora grunted out.

Maggie nodded quickly. "It's fine. My teacher and I got it cleaned and checked out before she left to check in with Oscar and his pack. Apparently, he turned someone last night and got himself a member for the pack. Left me to handle the rest. Don't worry, he's resting in the next room."

Cora's eyes widened a bit. "He?"

"Yeah, he. It's a boy."

Maggie helped Cora to slowly get out of the bed and move over to where there was a makeshift basket crib set up. Cora moved over to be directly in front of it and laid her eyes on her son. A few thin strands of brown hair were at the crop of his head. She then saw that the nose, ears and pale complexion seemed to all scream Stiles. Then, as if he could sense it, the baby opened its eyes and was now looking at her with her very own brown eyes.

"Hello Jason," she muttered. Jason then moved to shut its eyes and resume sleeping. Cora let herself stare at the baby's soft face and could feel herself getting less sore and stronger.

"Cora," Maggie said softly, directing her to leave the room and give the baby a chance to sleep.

Cora could feel that Maggie was suddenly anxious about something. "What is it?"

"It's about your brother. Something happened to him and all your Beacon Hills friends. Don't worry, they're fine," she quickly said. "The worst is over, I think."

Cora narrowed her eyes. "Kate?" she guessed.

Maggie nodded. "And, there's something I have to tell you about your uncle. And your brother."

* * *

Noah was with Henry, in his office, silently waiting for their kids. Neither one of them had slept all night. Parrish called to inform them that they were safe but they needed to see them with their own eyes. Stiles and Malia walked into the station and headed for the Sheriff's office. Stiles caught sight of not only his father but Malia's and their heads were down so they didn't see them. He went and knocked at the door to announce themselves and immediately their fathers' heads shot up. Relief came over both of them and Stiles and Malia came in. Stiles was quickly scooped up by his dad.

"Dad, you smell terrible," he said as he patted his dad in the back.

"Yeah, you do too," Noah told him.

Malia laid eyes on her dad, the one that chose to keep her and only ever did anything for her sake, with no strings attached or ulterior motives other than the fact he loved her. She broke into a run and came into his outstretched arms.

"I'm so glad you're okay," he said into her hair.

"I'm glad you're okay too," she said as she squeezed him.

They all broke apart from one another and the Stilinskis stared at the Tates.

"Come here," Noah said to them. Malia moved to get hugged by him while Henry went to hug Stiles. They then went and merged into a quick four person huddle hug. Noah sighed when they broke apart. "Hey, what do you say we get outta here, and get something to eat?"

"Great," Stiles sighed. "I'm starving." Fighting for his life all night really built him up an appetite. But as they moved to leave, Stiles was pulled back by a set of handcuffs on his wrist that kept him bound to a file cabinet. His dad must've put them on him during their group hug. "Yo daddy?" he said as he pointed to his cuffed wrist.

Henry was trying not to laugh and Noah was focused on Malia.

"What's your favorite food?" he asked her.

Malia stared after him but their fathers were gently urging her out of the room. "Uh, pizza," she told them.

"Dad?" Stiles called out as they all walked away with him still handcuffed. But the three of them walked completely out. Stiles huffed as they left before he checked to see that no one was looking. He then pulled his wrist and the cuff's chain snapped off. "Oh dad," he muttered fondly before moving to catch up before they could leave him.

* * *

When Araya and her men returned to their hideout, they were soon surprised by a slew of government vehicles. Both Mexican officials and American federal agents calling for them to surrender as they were under arrest. Rafael McCall was leading them and he told Araya they were under arrest for quite a few charges such as weapon smuggling across the borders, as well as drug trafficking, extortion, assault, murder, kidnapping and torture just to name a few. He made sure to display a certain card with a double spiral cut into it as he mentioned torture. Argent had informed him of this woman and her people. What they did to her son and his friends. He made sure that Chris gave him everything he could so he could legally step in but had him wait until this whole mess with his sister was resolved.

"Oh, and Chris Argent wanted me to give you a message. You were right. He did dishonor the code, but not half as much as all of you."

* * *

At the school, Noshiko was paying a visit to Kira to give her a gift.

"The shard of obsidian you brought back Kira. There's a reason you kept it. And a reason your father took the liberty of making an alteration to it. Do you know what it is?"

Kira went and looked at the rock that she had used to try and trigger her healing. It was carved into the shape of a throwing star. "A tail," she realized.

Noshiko smiled. "Your first," she said proudly.

Kira had her first fox tail.

* * *

Scott, Stiles and Liam were off in the locker room with their Coach to try and explain their cover story to the man. Liam was taking point with it.

"Then Stiles said that Scott and Kira were stuck in Mexico which was why they missed the game. So we went down to Mexico to bring them back from Mexico which is why we all missed practice cause…we were all in Mexico." He started to falter under Coach's hard stare.

Coach then turned his glare to Scott. "You took Kira on a date to Mexico?"

"Uh, it was our first real date," he tried to explain.

"In Mexico?" he asked.

"They wanted to do something special," Stiles threw in a little suggestively.

That made Scott give him a look. He didn't find that funny coming from Stiles, especially now. He hadn't told Stiles of what he had found out. About Cora having a son, and that he was most likely the father. If Derek or Cora apparently hadn't told him, then he guessed there was a reason for it. He would have to respect that and not tell Stiles anything, for now.

Coach then nodded. "Okay, I believe you."

"Really?" Liam asked eagerly.

"Absolutely not," Coach spat at him. "But, I've had experiences south of the border that would knock the genitals off you boys." For some reason, they didn't doubt that, even after what they've been through. "Still, let me be clear to you two," he said looking to Scott and Stiles. "This kid's the best talent I've seen in years. So, he's your responsibility now. You boys are gonna stick together. Gonna look out for each other and you're gonna have each other's backs. You got it?"

The three of them let smiles loose at that.

"We got it," said Scott.

"You better." It looked like Coach was going to leave but he stopped. "Oh, almost forgot. I made an official announcement at practice, which you all missed, so I'm going to tell it to you now. McCall, ever since you were made the sole Captain of this team, I feel like it hasn't been getting the same out of you that it did when you had Jackson as your fellow Co-Captain. A partner to help motivate you and who you motivate. So, I assigned a Co-Captain for the team. One I saw had real talent in motivating the team when you weren't around at the last game."

"Who?" Scott asked.

He then looked over his shoulder, at Stiles. Liam's eyes widened and Scott felt a breathless grin spread over him.

Stiles just blinked. "Wait, me?"

Coach rolled his eyes. "No Greenberg, yes, you Stilinski. Really," he breathed as he rolled his eyes and headed into his office.

* * *

Lydia paid Jordan Parrish a visit at the station. She was carrying a small book in her hands.

"Now, I still have the hard drive but I thought it might be a good idea to have a hard copy around. Written in Modern English."

"The Bestiary," said Jordan.

She placed it on the table and opened it to reveal that she had already started documenting some of the things they'd seen and even filled in some body sketches.

"We'll find out whatever it is you are. And I'll help you figure it out. I promise."

Lydia then moved to gently take his hand and squeezed it lightly in comfort. He smiled lightly at her and squeezed back.

"Me too."

* * *

A blue jeep went and stopped in front of what seemed to be a very nice looking house. Stiles stepped out of the driver's side, and Liam out of the passenger side. Together, they walked up to the door and Stiles knocked. They waited for a few seconds when they heard movement on the other side. It then opened and Satomi appeared.

"Hi," Stiles said to her and Liam timidly raised his hand to the Alpha. "Uh, I kind of have more questions for you and I was hoping you could help me find the answers. May we come in?"

Behind Satomi, they could make out Brett coming to see who it was and he froze at the sight of them. He and Liam caught each other's gazes and Brett gave the guy a small nod as his face softened and Liam nodded back.

Satomi smiled. "Of course."

* * *

Kate was sitting on her cot, staring at the bare wall opposite from her of her private cell space down in the special wing of Eichen House. There was the faint sounds of cries and howls from the other inmates in the other cells, echoing into hers. She then heard steps that stopped right outside the outer door. It then opened.

"First day and I already have a visitor," she said not looking up but knowing who it was regardless. "Must be my lucky day."

"I brought you some things," her brother muttered as he held up a stuffed small leather bag.

"How sweet of you," she slurred out in a flat tone, not even turning to look at him. "You want to stay and help me furnish the place while you're at it?"

Chris let the bag drop with a hard flop as he stared hard at his sister. "I don't know what you really expected. I gave Stiles the choice of choosing your fate and he decided that death didn't work the first time with you so spending the rest of your life here might be the better choice. You brought this on yourself Kate."

"Is that what you're telling yourself?"

"What have you been telling yourself? Ever since you first went behind all of our backs and took advantage of teenage boy and set his home on fire. On top of everything you've done since then. Violating the code, taking innocent lives, manipulating your own niece and kidnapping and hurting kids for your own amusement. You were going to have to answer for all of it one way or another. As is everyone that's broken the code."

Kate had enough being indifferent and she got up to pace to the edge of her ash line laced cell to face her brother. "Get off your damn high and mighty Chris. You're not exactly sporting spotless hands in that area but I don't see you volunteering to punish yourself and rot away in some box. You don't have any right to say that to me or anyone."

He let out a deep breath and began speaking in a hard tone. "You're right, I don't. I admit it. I looked the other way and not just for you, but Gerard, Victoria and a few others. I went around and bent the rules more times than I'm willing to admit and did things to innocents both grown and young, all while preaching that the code was absolute. Then I was forced to hold my wife as she killed herself in my arms because of the code I swore by. Yours and our father's choices went and destroyed more families than one and the rest of us were left to face the humiliation and consequences. I watched as my teenage daughter nearly destroyed her innocence because of our father and he threatened her life right in front of me while he laughed at me, at us. Then the sins of our family, my sins, came back and threatened to take the life of a boy we hurt and Allison felt the need to give her life to save him before she had a chance to live even half of it," he cracked out. "Now, I have to bare all that pain and shame and be alone for the rest of my life, so tell me Kate, how am I not being punished?" Chris' eyes were shining as a tear ran down the side of his face while Kate turned to have her back to him as she glared at the wall. "And we're not the only ones who have to answer for what we've done."

At another part of the wing, Peter was coming to and found himself being thrown in a similar cell that Kate was in. The drugs he was on were wearing off and he smirked out at no one in particular.

"Do you actually think this is gonna hold me?" he called out. "You think you can shoot me up with wolfsbane, make me docile and weak and I won't find a way out?!" he roared as he hit the glass.

"It's not just the wolfsbane." Peter then turned to see he wasn't alone. He was in a cell with Valack, who was lying in a cot and reading a book. "It's the mountain ash wood framework of the cells. It's all around us. Your former associate Kate is no doubt discovering that now."

"Who the hell are you?" Peter asked.

Valack got out of his bed and stepped up to him. "I could tell you, but, it's easier if I just show you."

He then went to remove the bandage over his head and revealed the gaping hole that was drilled into his head. Peter focused his vision to get a better look inside. Suddenly, an eye appeared and Peter soon began screaming. They echoed through the special wing, reaching the ears of the two Argent siblings. They both shared a grim look with each other.

* * *

A/N: Well, that's the last chapter of the story. I hope you liked the battle at La Iglesia. I went through several re-writes to try and get the feel just right with the changes made to the pack. Not to mention, the birth of Stiles and Cora's new son, Jason. I have big plans of what's to come in the next story so I hope you all read and enjoy it as much as you've enjoyed the others. And I hope you all had a happy 4th of July.


	28. Sneak Peek

A/N: In one month I plan to begin the next story in the Teen Wolves series, Teen Beasts. An official date hasn't quite been decided yet but it will be sometime next month. I have also been working on rewriting my earlier stories to not be so canon, though they will still follow the story line that I have put into play. I hope to rewrite them all until Teen Survivors, which I don't see any need to rewrite. And, I hope you all have liked my side bit with the Bestiary that Lydia has started to compile. Well, here is a small sneak peek into a bit of the first chapter in the new story.

* * *

A punching bag was being hit with quick and sure blows, a hard breath being hissed every strike. The one hitting it was a dark skinned young man and he was building both momentum and sweat as he assaulted the bag like it insulted him. Virgil Edelman. He then gave a shout as he slammed his owl forearm into the bag and leaned on it as he took large puffs and rested his sweaty brow against it. He slowly turned his head to gaze on a hung picture of himself standing with a man and an elderly woman. All three were smiling at the camera. He looked at it for a moment before he let out a heated sigh and hit the bag with one last fist, pushing himself away from it.

He went off to take a shower and was soon drying his hair after he finished putting on some pants along with a Beacon Hills High T-shirt on. Virgil may have graduated two months ago but he liked the look of the shirt, even if he hadn't liked his time at the school. He moved to go and pour himself some cereal as he went to turn on the TV to watch the weather. He saw that there was going to be some heavy rain late tonight. Luckily, he knew he would be home and wouldn't be caught out in it.

Then his phone rang and he moved to pick it up.

"Virgil here," he answered.

"Hey Virge," he heard his boss' voice say on the other end.

"Virgil," he quickly bit out. He didn't like anyone calling him that.

"Right, Virgil. Well listen, I'm going to need you to cover into the late night shift tonight."

"Late night?"

"Yeah, I'm sorry but I don't have anyone else."

"Okay," Virgil said slowly. "I could actually use some actual overtime for a change."

"Uh, about that," his boss' voice said hesitantly.

"Really? This is the third time. I thought you said it would be the last time."

The man let out a heated sigh. "I know what I said Virgil, and I'm sorry. But the full moon's tonight and you've seen how this night's been lately. Accidents have spiked on this night over the last year and a half so this is an emergency. More yahoos are coming out and getting behind the wheel in this town and the garage could use the extra business."

Virgil clenched his fist at his side but ungripped it. "I'll be there." He barely managed to get that out with a straight voice.

"Thanks Virgil. Look, I'll make it up to you. A full repair, free of charge. All on me. Cash it in anytime you want."

"Yeah, I appreciate it." Vigil then ended the call and almost slammed the phone down. "Ass," he muttered and he moved to dig his face into the palms of his hands.

A part of him understood why his boss couldn't get more help. Ever since his last night mechanic was killed when a car impaled him, two of his other three mechanics had quit and moved to other places. When he had been looking for work during his senior year, he had been quickly hired as he hadn't been able to find anyone willing to work there. But, his boss was now pouring the extra hours on him, knowing that Virgil couldn't just quit. Honestly, he didn't want to. Virgil actually liked working on cars and fixing them up. It was the people that tended to drive them that he had problems with.


End file.
